


Missing Pieces

by pleasanthell



Series: All The Pieces [2]
Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-01-13 19:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1237498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasanthell/pseuds/pleasanthell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gail and Holly have moved in together. They share a bed and a single coffee mug. Things couldn't be going better. Just as things are starting to calm down around them, a case shakes up their world and resurrects the past in an explosive way.</p><p>Sequel to Little Pieces</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“The courier sick again, Dr. Stewart?” Chris teased Holly as she walked into 15 Division with a blue folder in her hand.

 

Holly smiled and shook her head, “Just going over and autopsy with Detective Swarek.” She stopped in front of Chris, “What are you up to?”

 

“I’m about to go back out on shift,” Chris hooked his thumbs in his belt, “I just brought in a mugger to booking. I think Gail is sulking at a desk, filling out paperwork,” Chris added, looking toward the pit. He winced, “She’s especially grouchy today.”

 

“I know,” Holly chuckled, “We were out of coffee this morning and it went downhill from there.”

 

Chris laughed with her, “I’ll see you later.” Chris gave Holly a hug and then they parted ways.

 

Holly walked deeper into the police station. She wasn’t there to see Gail although she was going to go see if there was something she could do to ease the grouchiness after she met with Swarek. She walked up the stairs to the detective platform saying hi to a few officers that knew her on the way. She slowed down as she walked through the door because the detectives were talking and she didn’t want to interrupt.

 

Sam looked over his computer monitor at Traci. “What if we got an undercover girl in there?”

 

“An undercover stripper?” Traci asked with a quirked eyebrow. She smirked and shook her head, “I don’t know anyone here that would be down with that. Maybe Gail if we give her half a bottle of tequila.”

 

Holly took that as her cue to walk in. As she moved past Traci, she tapped Traci’s upper arm with the folder, “You can’t send Gail in because after half a bottle of tequila, she’ll tell everyone she loves them and then pass out on the stage. Or she will punch everyone and…pass out on the stage.”

 

Traci laughed. “Hey Holly,” Traci leaned back in her chair. She put her hands behind her head.

 

“Hey Traci,” Holly smiled and then dropped the folder on Sam’s desk. “I brought my audio recording of the autopsy too.”

 

Sam looked up at Holly, then glanced at Traci, then looked back at Holly and smiled, “Dr. Stewart, can you dance?”

 

“Are you asking me to go undercover as a stripper?” Holly raised her eyebrow at him and put her hands in her pockets.

 

Sam smirked, “Not yet. Can you dance?”

 

“She can dance,” Traci piped up with a wicked grin across the desk. “We went out last weekend and she dragged us to a club. Girl’s got some moves.”

 

“Now I’m asking you if you want to go undercover as a stripper,” Sam grinned up at Holly and clicked his pen three times. “You fit his type perfectly.”

“Violent stripper killer sociopath?” Holly asked the two detectives.

Traci answered, “Sleazy stripper chasing drug dealer.”

Holly shrugged nonchalantly, “Sounds fun. It’s not tonight though right? I have plans with some friends.”

“What are you doing this afternoon?” Sam asked scratching the back of his neck.

“Cutting open dead people and basically single-handedly solving their murders,” Holly replied playfully.

Traci laughed and asked, “Can you put it off for an hour and walk around in some lingerie for us?”

“Well for you, anytime,” Holly grinned. “Give me an extra twenty minutes to try to figure out how to cover up a scar that I have,” she gestured vaguely to her abdomen.

“I can help,” Traci offered, “After covering up the bags under my eyes since Leo was a baby, I’m pretty sure I can cover up anything.”

“Cool,” Holly nodded.

Traci stood up and grabbed her coat. She looked over at Swarek, “Set up the cover. We’ll meet you on the way to the club.”

Holly and Traci were walking out of the detective room when they almost literally ran into Gail. The blonde blinked and looked at her girlfriend and her fellow officer. “Hey,” Gail looked skeptically at the two then looked at Traci, “I was coming to see if you wanted anything from the deli down the street, but you’re already on your way out.”

“Yeah,” Traci put her hands in her pocket. “We’re going to do a little UC. We’ll get lunch on the way in.”

“Hold on,” Gail grabbed Holly’s arm, “You’re doing UC?”

Holly nodded, knowing that Gail would have a problem with her being possibly in danger or doing anything police related. “Just to help find a drug dealer with a thing for strippers. No big.”

“You’re going to be a stripper?” Gail’s eyes widened.

Traci knew that Gail was going to be a problem so she decided to offer Gail a spot. “You can be on the takedown team.”

“You’re okay with this?” Gail asked Holly. Over the past few months she had gotten her overprotectiveness under control. She was just wasn’t keen on thrusting Holly into the criminal element.

Holly nodded. “I’m just bait right? I trust you guys.” She pulled out her phone, “I’ll order some food and it’ll get to the apartment by the time we get there.”

When they got to their apartment, Gail and Holly took to their closet while Traci sat on the bed and ate pizza. Holly ducked out to get the make-up in the bathroom.

“Holly, why do you have maracas?” Gail called from the closet. She hadn’t really looked through Holly’s stuff before. Holly never tried to hide any of it and Gail respected Holly’s privacy. However, Holly told her to look through everything and see if she could find some lilac lingerie she had.

“I do not remember,” Holly called back. “I think I went to Mexico.”

“How do you not know?” Traci laughed.

Holly poked her head out of the bathroom with a grin, “It was the week I graduated from medical school. I’m a little fuzzy on the details.” She grabbed something and then walked out with a make-up bag. “This is all I got.” She handed it to Traci who immediately unzipped it and looked inside.

“This is perfect,” Traci answered sitting up straight.

Gail stepped out of the closet, “These?” She had lilac a laced bra dangling from one of her fingers and the matching boyshort on another finger.

Holly snatched them off of Gail’s hand, “That would be it.”

“How come I’ve never seen you in those?” Gail pouted and leaned back on the dresser as Holly moved to the bathroom with the lingerie.

Traci snickered, “Well you will in a about half an hour. I hope you can keep it professional.”

After Holly was dressed in her lingerie and her hair was slightly curled, Traci covered up Holly’s only remaining scar as best she could while Gail changed into normal clothes for the takedown.

Holly put on a track suit over her underwear and walked out with Gail and Traci. “Swarek talked to the manager. He’s with us all the way. All you have to do is dance a little. Swarek and Diaz will be in the club. Gail will be bartending. When the guy asks for a private dance you agree, take his money, and then go the back where I’ll be with some more uniformed officers.”

“Got it,” Holly smiled, taking the whole thing with a light mood. She wasn’t at all concerned for her safety. The entire club would be crawling with police officers.

“If anything makes your uncomfortable, scratch your neck,” Traci added. “Swarek, Diaz, and Gail will all be able to see you.”

Holly noticed that Gail was quiet as they walked toward the club. She acknowledged Traci’s statement and then poked Gail’s back to get her attention, “Are you okay with this?” She knew that in the excitement of being asked to go undercover, she didn’t ask Gail if she was okay with it.

“Yeah,” Gail said hoarsely before clearing her throat, “It’s only for a little while. It’s fine.”

Holly knew not to push. She just bit her lip and glanced over at Traci. Traci noticed it too, but she figured it was residual anxiety from the ordeal that Holly went through months ago at the hands of the Ford Brothers. Traci put her hand on Gail’s shoulder, “We have this building covered from all angles. No one is going to touch Holly.”

“Yeah,” Gail replied lowly and adjusted the gun under her jacket, “I know.”

Holly and Traci exchanged a helpless look and made their way into the club.

Despite Gail’s even mood, Holly’s entire body was buzzing with anticipation. She was about to dance for people. Perverted sad people who couldn’t get their girlfriends to dance for them and had nothing better to do at one in the afternoon on a weekday…or couldn’t get girlfriends, but she was excited. It was her first undercover job as well. Not that medical examiners ever got undercover jobs, but it was something new and exciting.

Everyone was backstage and getting their final assignments. Gail kept her jacket on because it hid her gun and she still looked like she could work behind the bar. Holly had taken off her outer clothes and was in lingerie, strapping on some heels.

She stood up and stretched. Then she saw Gail looking at her and made her way over. “Be careful okay?”

“You’re the one we’re dressing up as a stripper and dangling in front of a drug dealer,” Gail huffed. She checked to make sure her gun was still where it was supposed to be. She had done that at least seven times since they arrived.

Holly swallowed and looked over Gail’s face, “I’m sorry. I should have asked you first.”

“No, you don’t have to do that,” Gail softened at the dampening she could see she was putting on Holly. “You’re doing something good. I’m just a little nervous.”

“Me too,” Holly hugged her girlfriend, “But we’ll be together and Traci, Chris, and Sam are here. It’ll be okay. A quick half hour at most and then you can walk me back to my safe refrigerator where the only criminals are dead.”

Gail wrapped her arms around Holly’s waist. She smiled against Holly’s shoulder, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Holly echoed.

When they broke away Traci called Holly. It was time for her to go out onto the stage. Gail had to go get into position first and Sam and Chris were already in the club. Gail gave Holly a kiss before taking the side door out of the backstage area.

She took her spot behind the bar. The club was mostly empty. It was the Tuesday afternoon after all. Few people can go to a strip club on a Tuesday afternoon and even fewer people actually _want_ to. Gail immediately spotted Chris, sitting in an armchair close to the stage. Sam was sitting in the back of the club at a booth facing the stage drinking what looks like a scotch, but is really probably just apple juice. He had a little scruff on his face and with his worn leather jacket he fit right in.

The girl that was dancing, walked off of the stage, but the music didn’t go off. The beads that cut off the front from the backstage area parted and Holly walked out with a sexy little smirk on her face.

Every law enforcement jaw dropped when Holly’s hand touched the pole and she swung easily around the pole, before dropping quickly so that her hand graced the floor before everyone could fully take in the fact that the dorky doctor they all knew was dancing in lingerie for them. She arched her back and slowly stood back up, a smirk firmly planted on her lips.

“Eyes on the perp, people,” Traci’s voice jumped into Gail’s ear. Gail blinked a few times and then shook her head. She moved to the lone cocktail waitress at the bar while keeping an eye on the Holly through the mirror behind the bar. She had seen Holly dance, but this was completely different. This was Holly playing a part and she was playing it oh so well.

“Can I get you anything?” Gail finally choked out.

The waitress jumped. She put her hand on her chest and looked at Gail, “Oh god. Sorry. There’s been a – Nevermind.” The waitress leaned on the bar. “You’re new?”

“First day,” Gail nodded. She picked up a glass and scooped some ice into it. She set it on the counter, “What’s been going on around here? Everyone seems really jumpy.”

The waitress’s eyes scanned around her while her head barely moved. Then she leaned forward, “I’ve heard that there’s some big drug guy hanging around here. I heard that a few nights ago he killed a dude for stiffing him and dumped him in the ocean.” The woman waved her hands in the air. “You ain’t heard this from me.”

Gail glanced up at the stage and saw that Holly was still there, getting more coins thrown into the tip jars than she ever expected. Holly was an exceptional dancer. She could move her body with the practice of someone who loves dancing and the awareness that comes with studying the human body extensively.

“She’s good huh?” the waitress asked, gesturing to the undercover medical examiner on stage.

Gail nodded. She was trying not to be so entranced by her girlfriend. She turned to the waitress and asked, “Has she worked here long?”

The waitress shook her head, “It’s her first day. It’s probably a good thing all of you new girls are starting today. It’s really slow.”

“Yeah,” Gail agreed. “Do you need anything right now?”

The waitress nodded, “The guy over there wants a vodka tonic.” She gestured vaguely to Chris. Holly noted that his eyes were fidgeting, trying not to look at Holly, but trying to pretend like a man there to ogle women in lingerie.

Gail picked up the bottle of vodka after she got the ice and waited until the waitress was looking back at Holly to put it down and just pour tonic in the glass. There couldn’t be any drinking while they were all undercover. They all had to be sharp and on point for everyone’s safety.

She handed off the drink and the waitress walked off to Chris. Gail leaned on the bar and surveyed the club. There was a crackle in her ear and Traci called, “Alright the target is walking in the front door.”

Gail turned her back to the club and used the mirror behind the bar to watch the drug dealer walk in with a few other men. They all sat down at a table near the stage. The waitress that Gail talked to earlier quickly walked to the bar with the drug dealer’s order. She didn’t have to ask him what he wanted. He got the same thing every time.

After Gail made the drink, she watched the waitress take the drinks to the dealer. She wondered how long it would take him to ask Holly to the back for a private dance, away from his men, so that they could get this whole thing over with. She kept having horrible thoughts about what could happen to Holly. The one that terrified Gail the most was Holly being kidnapped again. It had been months since Holly was kidnapped the first time, but Gail didn’t know if she could make it through that again.

It didn’t take long for the drug dealer to signal Holly. She just subtly and seductively nodded, acknowledging his wave of a hundred dollar bill at the private door. Holly took one last leisure swing on the pole in the middle of the stage, tossing a playful glance at Gail before slinking backstage. The dealer walked to the back room, parting the beads blocking the door with his hands.

“Move in,” Traci’s voice was decisive over the intercom.

Gail saw Chris and Sam move in on the boss dealer’s cronies that were still sitting at the table drinking. Gail hopped over the bar and grabbed the cocktail waitress. She made sure that the waitress was behind her as Sam and Chris easily caught the two men off guard. They were handcuffed before they knew what was going on.

“We got him,” Traci announced.

Gail let out a sigh of relief. Everyone was caught and everything went to plan. Holly was perfectly fine.

After quickly explaining to the waitress what happened, the waitress unexpectedly hugged Gail. Gail tensed up and stiffly patted her back. She understood that the woman was grateful, but that didn’t mean she liked touching people. At least, people who weren’t Holly.

After the dealer and his henchmen were on their way to the jail, everyone convened in the alley behind the club. Sam and Holly were joking around when Gail walked up. Chris was having trouble looking directly at Holly even though she was fully clothed.

“Hey,” Gail announced her presence as she joined the group.

“Hey,” Holly smiled.

Gail looked her over, “Everything go okay?”

Holly nodded. “Yeah. It was fun.”

“Maybe we have a new UC secret weapon,” Sam smirked and looked over at Gail. Gail knew that he was baiting her, trying to see her reaction to Holly being a UC plant more than once so she kept quiet.

Holly checked her phone and then put it to sleep, “I should probably get back to my actual job. There are a few autopsies that I have to get through today.”

“I’ll buy you a drink if you bump that Carlson guy to the top of your list,” Sam told Holly.

Holly put her hands in her pockets. “That means I’ll be working late.”

“A bottle of scotch?” Sam smiled at her, knowing that she was going to do it, but knowing that she was going to make him pay for it.

Gail butted it, “And all my drinks while you hold my girlfriend captive in the morgue.”

“Done,” Sam nodded. Holly agreed as well because the only reason she was hesitant was because she could get home late and she wasn’t sure how Gail would take it.

Traci walked over to the group and hugged Holly, “Great job.”

“Thanks,” Holly smiled.

“Officer Peck, why don’t you take escort Holly back to her office?” Traci patted Gail’s shoulder.

Gail quickly agreed and took the keys to an unmarked car that Sam gave her. Gail led the way to the car and opened the door for Holly.

“I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable,” Holly told Gail as Gail started the car. “I didn’t really think about it before I said yes. I should have checked with you.”

“It’s your body,” Gail shrugged. “Your choice.”

Holly sighed, “I know, but I should have made sure it wouldn’t make things weird with you and your co-workers.”

Gail looked over at Holly, “It’s not a problem. They didn’t see you in anything less than a bikini would have shown and since Andy and Chris have decided to buy a boat together, we’ll probably be on the lake for most of the summer. It’ll be the same thing.” Gail turned to look behind the car so that she could back out, “And let’s face it, after a few cocktails you always dance like that.”

Holly swatted Gail’s shoulder, “I do not.”

“Well the important part is that you have never danced for me like that,” Gail retorted with a grin.

“I didn’t know you wanted me to,” Holly leaned back in her seat, “But I definitely will sometime.”

Gail pulled into the loading bay of the medical examiner’s office. Holly lulled her head over to look at Gail and let out a wicked smile, “How bad would it be if we made out in the squad car in front of the morgue?”

Gail smiled widely, knowing the longing feeling that Holly was apparently feeling.

Holly sat in the car for a little while longer and put her elbow against the window. She rested her head in her hand and looked over at Gail, “Would it be terrible if I didn’t want to do anything this weekend?”

“Absolutely not,” Gail replied. She poked Holly’s side, “I was wondering how long this social butterfly phase was going to last with you.”

“It wasn’t really social butterfly,” Holly ran a hand through her hair, “Andy is just really enthusiastic about things and it’s hard to say no to her.”

Gail shook her head, “It’s really easy. I do it all the time.”

Holly moved toward Gail and kissed her, “Well I am taking an early weekend because I have a meeting Friday with the people that published my last book.”

“What do they want?” Gail asked, reaching over and taking Holly’s hand. She played with Holly’s fingers, tracing each one as Holly spoke.

“I think they want me to write another paper for their next publication,” Holly explained, “Which would be fine. But I don’t think have time to write another book. Especially on a deadline. That was exhausting.” She smiled, “I already have to deal with you so I don’t really have any leftover energy.”

“You know I have a taser in here right?” Gail narrowed her eyes.

Holly laughed and picked up her bag. She leaned over and kissed Holly. “I love you. Stay safe. I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Love you too,” Gail called after her. She knew it was important to say it, especially with her job. When anything could happen, she wanted Holly to know for sure that she loved her. 


	2. Chapter 2

On Friday morning, Gail laid on the bed and watched Holly get dressed for her meeting. “Where are they taking you to breakfast?”

“We’re going to brunch at that really nice place on Second Street. The one with the weird griffin statues on the balcony,” Holly looked at herself in the mirror while she buttoned her shirt.

“Oh excuse me brunch,” Gail mocked Holly with a playful grin.

There was a beeping in the kitchen and Holly finished buttoning her shirt before she went to the kitchen. There was some minor noise in the kitchen and then Holly returned to the bedroom with a cup of coffee. She took a sip and then handed it off to Gail on her way to the bathroom.

Gail looked down at the coffee mug. “Did you ever find your other mugs?” They’d been sharing one coffee mug since Gail moved in. Gail didn’t really have a lot of kitchen things that were her own so she just left everything with Dov and Chris figuring that Holly would have all her kitchen stuff. However, her mugs got lost in the move and they’d been sharing one mug for coffee every morning for a few weeks.

“No,” Holly stepped out of the bathroom slipping a simple silver ring onto her middle finger, “I’ll have to call the moving company and see if they still have it or something.” Gail took a sip and offered it to Holly. Holly shook her head. “What time are you going into work?”

Gail looked at the clock on the nightstand, “I should probably start getting dressed and get more coffee. It’ll be a long day.”

“Who are you riding with?” Holly asked as she picked up her purse and threw a few more things into it.

“Chloe,” Gail drank some more coffee. “So we get to have Frank hovering over us like a helicopter dad.”

Holly smiled and put her purse down. She laid down on the bed behind Gail. Gail put the coffee down and flopped back next to Holly. She rolled into the doctor’s arms and snuggled into her. Holly smoothed out Gail’s hair and kissed her forehead. “This weekend, you have two days off in a row at the same time I do. This is the first time this has happened since we moved in together. The stars have aligned. We’ll get to spend all weekend doing whatever you want.”

“I don’t want to leave the bed,” Gail mumbled against Holly’s neck.

Holly grinned, “We don’t have to. We can pull a cooler in here and fill it up with food and water. We can have sex and play video games until you can’t stand it anymore from the time you get home to the time we both have to leave for work on Monday.”

“You are the best girlfriend in the world,” Gail squeezed Holly. She believed what she said. She never met anyone like Holly. She doubted she ever would again.

Holly kissed Gail, just softly pressing her lips to Gail’s before pulling back and nodded, “I know.”

They laid in bed for as long as possible before Holly had to get to her meeting. Gail left the apartment a few minutes later, knowing it would only take her ten minutes to walk to work. She paused at the door before walking out. She looked over the apartment that was finally unpacked completely. They had both been putting it off unpacking and finally Holly made the last boxes disappear while Gail was on a swing shift.

A smile played on Gail’s lips. This was home. It actually felt like home.

She was going to barely make it to work on time which meant that she wasn’t going to run into Andy walking out of the building. Andy was probably already sitting in the parade room in her uniform. Gail actually enjoyed walking to work. It was calming. She would just never admit it to either Holly or Andy.

When she reached the block that 15 Division was on, she stopped on the sidewalk and took in the building. It had been months since the Ford Brothers’ assault on 15 and everything was back to normal. The windows were replaced. The desks were fixed. The grass that was uprooted in front of the building had grown back. It would have been hard for anyone to tell that something catastrophic had happened. The only difference was that now there was a plaque on the wall, facing the front door. The inscription was something clichéd that her mom decided should be hung up, something to show that 15 Division would persevere through anything.

But Gail knew something that her mom didn’t. Gail knew that 15 would persevere without the plaque. They would fight their damnedest to keep the metropolitan area safe. They would fight through shootings and kidnappings. They would stand together as the outstanding officers they were.

Gail finally felt like it was all behind them. All the mess, all the terror, and all the worry was now a dark memory. She adjusted the bag over her shoulder and resumed her walk into work.

Her day was more of the usual. Nothing overly exciting or extraordinary happened. And like every day she counted down the minutes until she could get back to Holly. She was so excited in fact that she accidentally made plans for both her and Holly with the rest of the Rookies the following weekend.

“So tell me again how Andy tricked you into agreeing to go camping next weekend,” Holly sat down at the small table right off the kitchen in their apartment.

Gail opened the refrigerator, grabbed a bag of grapes, and then closed it. She plopped down on the chair across from her girlfriend and looked over at Holly, “She asked if we would like to go camping and I may have interrupted her to explain we were busy this weekend – all weekend. Then she told me they’re going camping next weekend. She tricked me.”

“You still could have said no,” Holly chuckled, amused with how Gail handed the whole thing.

Gail rolled her eyes. “I know that now. I panicked. She cornered me. I was ready to leave and she sprung it on me.”

Holly stood up and took the grape out of Gail’s hand as it was poised to pop into her mouth. “Since we don’t have next weekend alone,” Holly ate the grape, “I say we start our weekend right now.”

Holly pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it on top of Gail’s head before sauntering to the bedroom.

After a little evening playtime, Gail found herself rummaging through the kitchen drawer where they kept the takeout menus. As she was doing so, she finally remembered something, “Oh my god,” she called to Holly who was changing clothes in the bedroom, “I totally spaced. How was your meeting?”

Holly emerged from the bedroom in pajama pants and a t-shirt. She started putting up her hair as she spoke, “It was great. They asked if I had any ideas for another book and said that they are going to be sponsoring a medicolegal death investigator panel next week and wanted to know if I’d be a panelist. They also talked about some North American lecture circuit or whatever.”

Gail turned around, “What do you mean whatever? That’s amazing.”

Holly shrugged and leaned back against the kitchen island opposite Gail, “It’s not a big deal. I don’t think I’m going to do it anyway. I’d be gone for six months.”

“If you want to do it then you should,” Gail held Holly’s eyes. “It’s a great opportunity.”

“We just settled in,” Holly shook her head, “ _I_ have just settled in. I don’t think that I could handle being gone that long.”

Gail studied Holly’s face and realized that Holly was afraid to leave. Gail understood. She would be terrified for Holly to leave. Maybe they weren’t both completely back to normal after what happened with the Ford brothers.

Gail moved to the other side of the island and Holly turned around to face her. Gail slipped her hands around Holly’s waist and looked at her, “If you want to go, I support it, but if you don’t want to I understand.” She kissed Holly to cement her promise before asking, “Are you going to the panel?”

“Yeah, it sounded fun,” Holly nodded. “It’s Thursday evening while you’re on shift.”

“Oh no,” Gail feigned disappointment, “I have to miss it.”

Holly smiled devilishly, “You won’t have to miss it. It’ll be online the day after the panel.”

“Oh yeah,” this time Gail feigned excitement. She didn’t try too hard and as a result of it, Holly picked up an oven mitt and smacked Gail with it.

“You’re an ass,” Holly laughed as Gail wrestled the oven mitt away from her and then kissed her hard against the counter.

Gail grinned a self-satisfied grin, “But I’m your ass.”

“I want a refund,” Holly smiled back.

Despite many attempts at their friends to get them to come out, Gail and Holly never left their apartment that weekend. They spent the mornings being quiet, reading or just lounging around. They were content in their shared bubble. In the afternoons they were rowdy like teenagers. They broke two lamps and cracked a picture frame wrestling over the tv remote. In the evenings they cuddled and watched movies. Saturday night they took turns painting each other’s’ toenails. All of their activities were interwoven with playful and tender intimate moments.

Monday morning came too soon for both women and heir bubble burst when their joint alarm went off.

“No,” Gail stated and turned her head away from the alarm.

Holly slowly sat up and turned it off. She pushed her hair away from her face and saw Gail still laying in the bed. She dipped down and kissed Gail’s bare back, “The real world is calling.”

“Hang up,” Gail mumbled into her pillow.

Holly kissed a trail up and down Gail’s back. She knew that Gail would get up, she just needed some time. She ended with one last kiss between her shoulder blades. “I’m going to go start some coffee.”

Gail started to stir when Holly left the bed. She rolled onto her back and sighed. It was the perfect weekend. She didn’t want it to end, but she knew it had to.

When Holly retuned with the coffee, she dropped it off with Gail and hopped into the shower. True to form, Gail ditched the coffee and jumped into the shower with Holly. They both enjoyed a little morning time shenanigans in the shower.

It took the hot water running out to get them both out of the shower. They took turns picking out their clothes and sharing their coffee. Holly braided Gail’s hair for her.

As she was putting her shoes on, Holly’s phone rang. She answered it, “Hello?”

“Hey Dr. Stewart,” Sam Swarek’s voice answered, “I hope I caught you before you got to your office.”

“I was just leaving my apartment. What’s up?” Holly kicked off the heels she was going to wear and went back into her closet to dig out her boots. Sam only called her for one reason.

“I have a double for you,” Sam said over the bustle of police cars and officers around him, “How quickly can you get to the Distillery District?”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Holly stepped into some cute yet sensible boots.

“Thanks,” Sam replied and hung up.

Holly put her phone into her bag and looked over at Gail who was watching her from the bed. Gail had been sitting on the edge, pulling her boots on. “Double homicide downtown.”

“Fun,” Gail stood up, “I’m jealous.”

“Who are you riding with today?” Holly asked, grabbing another jacket in case the bodies were outside.

Gail stuck out her tongue, “McNally.”

They parted ways on the sidewalk in front of the apartment building. Holly walked to the car and Gail took off toward 15 Division.

Holly arrived at the crime scene and before she opened the door, one of the uniformed officers was by the car. He opened the door for her and smiled as she stood, “Hello, Dr. Stewart.”

“Thanks,” Holly smiled at him, wishing that she could remember his first name. She’d seen him around, but she was drawing a blank. She grabbed her crime scene bag and started walking toward the police tape.

Luckily, Swarek came walking out of the warehouse to her. “Hey, thanks for getting here so quick. The businesses around here want us to get this wrapped up fast because apparently ten police cars parked in front of a warehouse across the street is bad for business. They’ve already called the Superintendent Peck.”

Holly chuckled uneasily at the mention of Gail’s mother. It wasn’t particularly funny, but Elaine Peck kinda made her nervous and forced laughter was usually how Holly handled uneasiness. “Show me the bodies and I’ll work as fast as I can.”

He escorted her inside the warehouse. It was obviously an old distillery that had been abandoned a while ago. The floors were clean, but there was dust and dirt on all the equipment. “Did you call any other crime scene techs?” Holly asked as they approached the floodlights that lit the grisly crime scene.

Swarek nodded, “Hayes and Randal, but they’re an hour out.”

Holly looked around. “I’ll get started so that we can get out of here. I can dust for prints if I get done before Hayes gets here.” Holly put her bag down just outside the pool of blood surrounding the bodies. “Holy crap.” There were two bodies lying on the ground. Their heads were facing opposite directions. One of the body’s legs was bent backwards. They were both still fully clothes. Both were in jeans, but one was in a white shirt with a bright orange puffy coat and the other in darker colors. Their combined blood encircled both bodies, creating a crimson barrier.

“Yeah,” Sam put his hands on his hips to watch Holly work. “The building owner came by to check on the place. He was getting ready to sell it to a condo developer. There’s a lovely pile of his breakfast over there.” Sam gestured to the far corner of the warehouse.

“Good. Then we can rule that out and I don’t have to take a sample,” Holly pulled on some gloves. “Has this place been photographed?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah. Just finished.” He looked over at one of the techs that usually did the photographing. He was securing his camera in the metal case he carried with him.

Holly leaned over the pool of blood, careful not to step it in. The pungent smell of iron in the blood was inescapable. Of course it didn’t faze the forensic pathologist. It was just a normal day at work for her. She leaned a little closer to the bodies and gave them both a once over. “You want the usual?”

“You know me so well,” Sam pulled out his notepad. He clicked his pen and poised to write.

Holly tilted her head and reached into her pocket to turn on the recorder that she always kept with her, “Preliminary crime scene observations…Victim one marked by facial tattoos was shot multiple times in the chest and abdominal area. There are lacerations and bruising to the face consistent with blunt force trauma antemortem. Some kind of imprint on the cheek.” Holly stood up straight and walked to the other side of the blood pool, “Victim two with the raven neck tattoo.” Holly pushed up her glasses with the back of her hand, “Multiple bullet wounds to the upper chest. No blunt force trauma, but the skin on both knuckles is broken.”

Sam wrote down what Holly said and looked up when Traci walked up to him. She looked over the bodies, “What are we looking at?”

“One of them was hit, one of them did some hitting, and they both got shot,” Holly stood up and shrugged. “I’ll fish out all the bullets when I get them to the morgue. Based on the groupings of the bullets, we’ll have to check the walls because it’s,” Holly looked down at the bodies and shook her head, “erratic.” Holly saw something new and bent over the bloody mess in front of her. “Victim two was shot in his femoral artery,” Holly explained and gestured to the blood surrounding both bodies, “Most of this is probably his.” She stood up and went to her crime scene kit. She extracted a thermometer. She took the cap off the end of the thermometer and asked, “Okay, who wants to help me get their pants off?”


	3. Chapter 3

They were on their way to meet up with a vice sting as back up. It was their second sting of the day and there wasn’t much to talk about.  Andy’s phone ringing interrupted the content silence that had settled in the unmarked car. She pulled it out of the pocket of her leather jacket and answered it, putting it on speaker, “Hey Swarek, what’s up?”

“I know you and Peck are on your way to meet up for the narcotics sting, but Nash said I could borrow you. I need to go pick up a suspect in a double homicide that happened Monday morning around five. Dr. Stewart matched this guy’s blood type to one found on the victim’s sweatshirt and she’s working on the DNA match.  We got a name from one of the victim’s friends,” Sam explained. “He’s in Moss Park. Shuter Street Apartments 31D.”

Gail pulled her notepad out of the back pocket of her jeans and wrote down the information, “Name?”

“Nathan Parker,” Sam told her, “But he has an entire page of aliases. Your best bet is to ask for Apollo. I’m sending Eckstein and Diaz to pick up the girlfriend.”

Gail scribbled down the name as Andy turned the car in the direction of their new destination. “Got it,” Andy relayed to Sam.

“I’ll send you his mugshot as soon as I can,” Sam added, “Apparently it’s been a heavy day for crime because the system is running slow. His picture has been loading for ten minutes.”

“Did you try refreshing the page?” Andy asked, in a borderline teasing manner.

“Very funny McNally,” Sam answered, “If I wanted technology advice, Oliver is in line before you.”

Andy told Sam that they’d have the guy in as soon as they could. When she hung up, Holly looked over at her. “Keep it in your pants, McNally.”

“What are you talking about?” Andy asked, although she knew exactly what Gail was talking about. She swallowed uncomfortably.

Gail just shook her head, knowing that Andy knew what she was talking about.

They arrived at the rather run down looking low-income housing project. There were people hanging around outside and there was a game of dodgeball being played by a large group of children next to the building.

No one paid much attention to them. It was probably a good thing because if they were dressed in their regular patrol clothes and were driving a marked car, Nathan Apollo Parker would probably be out the back of the complex before they hit the door.

They made their way through the complex and up the stairs to apartment 31D. They both stood on either side of the door and Gail knocked on the door, “Police.”

Andy’s phone dinged, but she didn’t take it out because she didn’t know how the confrontation was going to go down. She needed to focus on what was happening in front of her. The door cracked open and an older woman with greying hair opened the door, but left the chain on. “Yes?”

Andy smiled kindly at her and showed the woman the badge that was stashed in her pocket, “Sorry to bother you man, but does a man named Apollo live here?”

The woman nodded, “But he’s not here right now.”

“Do you know when he’ll be back?” Gail asked, trying to subtly look behind the woman into the apartment. “We just have some questions for him.”

The woman closed the door completely and Gail huffed, figuring that this search was already over. But the chain rattled on the door and the woman opened it completely. “He should be back any minute. He went to go help my friend Mary fix her sink. Lord knows maintenance was never going to do it.” The woman turned around and walked inside her apartment leaving the door open.

“Are you related to Apollo?” Andy asked, curiously as she extracted her phone.

The woman shook her head, “A few years ago, I saw Nathan outside the church down the street. He was running with some gang or something that hung out on the corner. I could tell he didn’t fit into it. So one day I asked him to help me carry some bags of soil out to the new serenity garden the outreach group built us. Nathan started coming to help me with the garden every week, then every day.”

Gail looked over at Andy. That didn’t really sound like someone who would be guilty of a double homicide, but both officers knew that just because something didn’t seem like it fit doesn’t mean that the pieces don’t fit.

Andy looked down at her phone and showed it to Gail. Gail took in the picture on the phone of the man they were looking for. She nodded and Andy put the phone away. Gail wondered if she had arrested him before because he looked vaguely familiar.

“You two are welcome to have a seat,” the woman told them, “I’m Helen by the way.”

“Thank you so much Helen,” Andy nodded and sat down on the couch where the woman gestured for them to sit. She didn’t really want to sit, but she didn’t want to be rude either.

Gail sat down next to Andy and took in the apartment. None of the furniture matched or was of very high quality. She could see some places where there was nails in the coffee table that were put there recently that were probably holding it together. The TV antennas had been fabricated out of a few different metals to bring in a perfectly clear picture of a muted soap opera. Additionally, from her seated position, she counted three bibles in her line of vision.

“Is Nathan in some kind of trouble?” Helen asked, sitting in an old armchair that was facing the thirty year old TV.

Andy shook her head, “Our detectives just want to ask him some questions.”

Helen looked down at shook her head, “He always talked about how his gang days would catch up with him.” She looked up at the officers, “He’s a good man now though.”

Gail wasn’t so sure about that. She took out her notepad and had to ask, “Was Nathan home last night?”

Helen shook her head. “He was at this girlfriend’s house I believe. They’ve been dating for almost three years. She sings in the church choir.”

Gail took down all the information and just finished when the door opened. “Hey Mama,” the man they were looking for stepped into the room without looking. He was carrying a worn, red metal toolbox that rattled when he closed the door.

“Nathan these officers have some questions for you,” Helen stated, evenly.

Nathan looked up and saw the officers standing from the couch. He looked them both over and set the toolbox down on the coffee table.

“We’d like to ask you some questions,” Andy told him, “Back at 15 Division.”

Nathan pulled his lower lip in and ran his teeth over it as he nodded. “Okay.” He looked behind them at Helen, “I’ll meet you at the church tonight.”

Helen stood up and walked between the officers to hug him. Then she went back to her chair.

Nathan led the way out to the police car. As they walked Andy noticed some gauze taped to Nathan’s inner forearm. “Is your arm okay?”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah. I just got a new tattoo last night.” He looked down at his own forearm and smoothed his hand over the gauze.

Gail pulled out her notepad and wrote that down as well. She knew in a homicide investigation that everything was important. She also took note of a scrape on the man’s cheek. It looked fairly recent.

Nathan was silent the entire way to 15 Division. He just looked out the window without saying a word. The only noise in the car was the crackle of the radio.

Gail was getting weirded out by the quiet. She wanted to turn on some music or something, but she knew she couldn’t. So she just tried to figure out what she was going to take on the stupid camping trip. Her plan mostly consisted lying on the bed after she got home from work and pouting until Holly packed for her. She nodded to herself. That would work. Then she felt bad for doing that to Holly so she planned to get Holly’s favorite Mexican food on her way home from work and a few books from the bookstore. Books worked way better than flowers with Holly.

When they pulled into the Sally Port, Gail opened the door for Nathan. He stood out of the car, only a few inches taller than her. He had lean muscles that tensed when he looked around. Andy opened the door to the station and held it for Nathan and Gail.

“This way,” Gail told him and walked him to an interview room that Sam and Steve were standing in front of.

After Nathan was locked away in the interview room, Gail looked her brother over, “Guns and Gangs too?”

“We have reason to believe this was a gang related double homicide,” Sam explained. He looked between the two rookies, “What did you find out?”

Gail and Andy both pulled out their notepads. Andy was the first to speak, “He lives with an older woman named Helen, who he called Mama. Helen said that he wasn’t home all night and speculated that he was with his girlfriend.”

Gail nodded, “She said he left the gang life behind, but he just got a new tattoo so you might want to check that out in case he’s not telling Helen the whole truth.”

“Good job, Rooks,” Sam wrote down what they told him and gesture to the interview room, “You two can watch if you want.”

They both agreed to stay and stepped into the observation room.

Sam sat down in front of Nathan and Steve stood by the door with a folder in his hand. “Hey Nathan, I’m Sam Swarek and this is Steve Peck. We just want to ask you a few questions about some things that went down last night.”

Nathan looked nervous. Even from behind the glass both Andy and Gail could see him trying to keep himself calm. He squirmed in his chair for a moment before closing his eyes for a beat. That seemed to still his entire body. When he opened his eyes he seemed calm.

“First, the officers said that you got a new tattoo,” Sam gestured to Nathan’s arm that was sitting limply on the table. “What is it?”

“I can show you,” Nathan offered and peeled off one corner of the tattoo, slowing peeling back the gauze. He tilted it up so that both Sam and Steve could see it. It was of a bow under two arrows that formed an ‘X’. “I got it last night.” He covered it back up when both men had seen it.

“What does it mean?” Sam asked looking over at Steve. Steve shook his head confirming that the tattoo was not gang related.

The man shrugged. “My nickname is Apollo. This is one of his symbols, one he shares with his sister Artemis. The two arrows are for me and my sister.”

“Are you close with your sister?” Sam asked and opened up the file that he brought in with him.

Nathan shook his head, “Not for a while.” He made sure that the tape was down firmly around his tattoo.

Sam read from the file, “What do you know about Corey Casey and David Alexander?”

Nathan leaned back in his seat. “I haven’t seen them in a long time. We used to hang together, but not anymore.”

“Are you sure you and your girlfriend weren’t hanging out with them in a warehouse in the Distillery District early this morning?” Sam asked, looking up at Steve before sliding a picture of the two bodies that were found in the warehouse. “Because your fingerprints say that you were there.”

Nathan barely blinked. He took a deep breath then he sat up straight, “I want a lawyer.”

“What if we told you that your girlfriend is in another interview room?” Sam asked, trying to get Nathan to talk to them in hopes to save himself in case his girlfriend implicated him.

Nathan shook his head without saying a word. He leaned back and crossed his arms.

Sam looked over at Steve and they both shared a look of disappointment. Sam stood up and he followed Steve out the door. Andy and Gail stepped out of the observation room to meet them.

“I’m going to go talk to the DA and see if we can get a warrant on his apartment and the girlfriend’s place.” He looked to Steve, “Do you want to take a crack at the girlfriend?”

Steve nodded. “She has known and current gang ties. I’m sure she’ll give him up before he gives her up.”

“You two can head back out,” Sam told Andy and Gail, “This is not going to get any more entertaining in a next few hours.”

“Do you want to see if we can catch up with Traci?” Andy asked Gail as she readjusted the gun holster under her jacket.

Gail nodded and started walking toward the back of the station, “I’ll call her.”

Traci told them the location of the last sting and asked them to meet her team there. Andy offered Gail the keys to drive, but Gail waved them off. They had some time so they both stopped off at the vending machines in the lounge for some water.

When they got back into the car, Gail asked tiredly, “What exactly does one take camping?” She knew she should have asked that question a while ago because as it was right then, she was going to have about two hours to pack after getting off of work before she and Holly were supposed to meet up with Andy, Nick, Dov, Chloe, and Chris to drive to god knows where in the middle of nowhere.

Andy grinned, “We almost went camping once. What were you going to bring them?”

“A lot of alcohol,” Gail stated and looked out the window. She was mentally finding all the alcohol in the apartment and trying to figure out how she was going to fit it all in a backpack.

Andy laughed and glanced over at Gail while she was driving, “Ask Holly. She’s been camping a lot. Do you guys have a tent? I have an extra one if you don’t.”

“Hold on,” Gail’s head whipped over to Andy, “I thought there was a cabin involved.”

“I never said that,” Andy was getting more amused as the conversation went on. She didn’t actually think she was springing this information on Gail. She thought Gail knew.

“Ugh,” Gail groaned. She pressed her head to the cold window next to her.

Andy shook her head, “It’ll be fun, Gail. C’mon I’ll bring more cheese puffs than you can eat.”

“Impossible,” Gail quipped.

“Okay, I’ll bring more cheese puff than you _should_ eat,” Andy tried to get Gail excited about it. She knew that for as much Gail was going to complain about going, she was going to enjoy herself. She always did.

Gail rolled her eyes, but knew that once she got over the outdoorsy-ness of the trip, she would probably enjoy it if only because Holly was going.


	4. Chapter 4

“How am I supposed to survive in the wild with just a backpack?” Gail asked as she tried to shove another shirt in a backpack she was borrowing from Holly.

Holly smiled. She was packing her own, less crammed backpack. “It’s not the wild. It’s a national park. There are bathrooms on every island.”

“Island?” Gail looked up, alarmed.

Holly was amused with Gail’s panic and explained, “We have to get their early so that we can boat to our island before the sun goes down.”

Gail stood up and walked to the kitchen. She returned with another bottle of liquor. Holly knew that there were already three bottles of liquor in Gail’s backpack, but didn’t say anything.

“Is there electricity on the island?” Gail asked as she sat down in the driver’s seat of the car.

Holly opened her laptop after she put her seatbelt on, “No.”

“So why are you bringing your laptop?” Gail turned the car on and started backing out of the spot.

“My publisher wants some kind of outline for my new book,” Holly stated flippantly. “I figured I could get it done on the way there and not have to worry about it anymore.”

Gail glanced over at Holly, “I didn’t think you were doing the book.”

“They made an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Holly smiled coyly.

Gail grinned, “Are we going to be rich?”

Holly laughed, “Probably not. The offer was that they’ll give me two years, a research assistant, and all the dead bodies I can stand.”

Gail’s smile fell. She made a stink face, “That sounds fun too.”

Holly knew that Gail was being supportive in her own way. She reached over and lovingly rubbed Gail’s arm. “So you’re okay with this?”

“Yeah, of course,” Gail frowned, wondering why Holly would even ask. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Holly waved her hand around as she explained, “It means that sometimes, my free time isn’t really going to be free time. This could take up weekends and evenings.” Holly paused her hand movements and took a moment to gather her thoughts. “I think that…” She inhaled and let her exhale carry out her words, “I think that what we have here is really great. But it’s really new. I don’t want this to come between us.”

Gail pulled off of the road and into the parking lot of a liquor store. She pulled into a spot and turned to look at Holly, “You’d quit this? So it wouldn’t come between us?”

Holly licked her lips thinking it over before she nodded slowly. “If you asked me to.”

Suddenly, Gail pulled Holly to her, their lips crashing together. Holly quickly caught up to the intensity of the kiss and allowed it to wash over her. Gail guided the kiss into a slow down before pulling away completely. She shook her head as she sat back in her seat. She took a moment to completely realize how much Holly loved her and then softly explained, “I would never ask you to do that. It’s important to you.”

“So are you,” Holly stated firmly.

Gail cracked a smile, “Do you wanna go inside and get a bottle of tequila and some limes? We can drink all we want once we’re on the island.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Holly smiled back. She dropped a quick kiss on Gail’s lips and then opened her door.

They met up with the other officers at the entrance of the park. Gail became aghast that, not only were they staying in _tents_ on an _island,_ but they would be taking a _canoe_ to the aforementioned island. She abruptly made sure that everyone knew that she shouldn’t be expected to _row._

“That’s fine,” Holly laughed, “But you have to help me get our stuff into the canoe.”

Gail looked over at Nick and Chris who were getting the metal canoe off of the top of Chris’s truck. She looked back at Holly who was opening the trunk of the car, “You know it’s not too late to go find a hotel somewhere.”

Holly picked up the bag that contained their tent. She smiled and handed it over to her girlfriend, “Here is your hotel.”

Gail mumbled obscenities as Holly handed her a sleeping bag as well. She shuffled to the canoe and dropped the tents and sleeping back in it.

Despite Gail’s predictable grumpiness, Holly loved the trip out to their island. After the park ranger pointed them in the right direction, Chris and Nick rowed them out into the water. Holly watched the tall trees pass by as their canoe cut through the crystal waters of the lake. She always loved the smell. She loved the feel of just gliding across the water. Everything was so serene.

Gail noticed Holly’s trance and bit her tongue. She kept quiet along with everyone else so that the only sound was the oars gently pushing against the water. She watched Holly close her eyes and take a deep breath. A smile played at the corner of her lips. She didn’t want to ruin the moment. She wanted to share it with Holly so she gently slid her hand under Holly’s and threaded their fingers together. Then she took a deep breath as well.

Holly smiled out at the lake. Not only because if the beauty, but because Gail understood what it meant to her. She leaned on Gail and rested her head on the blonde’s shoulder without looking at her. She didn’t need to look at her to know what she was thinking. Gail rested her cheek against the top of Holly’s head and was content to be silent the rest of the way to the island through the archipelago.

Chris was the only one that spoke, pointing out their island to Nick so he could steer them in that direction. The landing zone was little more than a mud ramp leading up the island. Chris hopped out first and grabbed the front of the canoe, pulling it up as best he could. Dov and Andy got out next. Andy held her hand out for Holly who was exiting before Gail. Holly took her hand and hopped out before turning around to do the same for Gail. Gail dropped onto the mud ramp with a wet thump and a skeptical glare.

Nick climbed onto shore last and he and Andy pulled the canoe up on the shore. Holly grabbed hers and Gail’s backpacks. She slung hers over her back and picked up their tent as well. Gail took her backpack from Holly and after it was secured onto her back with the clinks of many liquor bottles, Gail took Holly’s hand. “Where’s this campsite?”

“On the other side of the island,” Andy knelt down so that she could get into the backpack. She unzipped it and pulled out her flashlight. She flipped it on and closed up her backpack.

Gail looked exasperatedly over at Holly who smiled and kissed her. “It’s a small island.”

The middle of the island consisted of large trees. There was a trail that led to the other side of the island. Holly’s grip tightened on Gail’s hand while they were walking through the darkening forest. Gail smiled, pulling Holly closer to her.

It didn’t take as long as Gail feared to reach their destination. The campground was a flat area in a half-circle of trees facing the water. The water was beautiful with the sun shooting orange beams across the surface.

Dov and Chris set the cooler down. Dov looked around, “We should probably pitch the tents before it gets too dark.”

“And start the burgers,” Chris opened the cooler.

Nick helped Chris put the tabletop grill together and lit the charcoal. Andy walked up to Holly and bumped her shoulder, “I’ll help you put yours together if you help me.”

“Deal,” Holly smiled and set her tent bag down. She kissed Gail’s cheek and told her she’d be right back. Gail’s initial reaction was jealousy. Andy kept kidnapping her girlfriend, but she immediately calmed down, knowing that she had never successfully put up a tent in her life. She decided to get the chairs out instead and check on the beer. She stuck with things she was good at.

Holly and Andy were so efficient at putting up tents that they got everyone’s up in less than twenty minutes. By that time the guys got the burgers going and had started a rock ring for the campfire. When Holly walked over to where Gail was sitting, Gail handed Holly her beer, offering a sip. Holly accepted it and took a drink before Gail pulled her down into her lap.

Nick and Dov were arguing about how to start the fire when they discovered that they only had one match and no lighter, while Andy, Gail, Holly, and Chris were eating their burgers.

Finally, Nick pulled his army card and Dov backed off. Nick struck the match and tried to light some kindling, but it went out before he could get a flame going.

Holly smiled and stood up, “Hold on.” Nick moved out of the way as she knelt down next to the kindling. Her back was to everyone, so they couldn’t see what she was doing. However, when she scooted back a few seconds later, there was a roaring fire in front of them.

“Where did you learn that?” Andy asked, impressed.

“I learned to do that at camp,” Holly gestured to the fire that was crackling.

Gail leaned back in her chair, “You went to camp?”

“All the foster kids went to camp,” Holly went to the cooler and picked up a couple of chilled beers. She handed one to Andy who just ran out and one to Chris. Then she opened the last one herself, “It was supposed to keep us out of trouble or something during the summer.”

“It didn’t keep you out of trouble?” Chris asked.

Holly sat down in front of the log that Dov was sitting on and leaned back on it, “It pretty much did the opposite. Everything was normal during the school year and foster kid summer camp was like Lord of the Flies with drugs and probation officers. I learned to do things that I wouldn’t admit to a bunch of cops that I know how to do.”

“That’s definitely not what I remember summer camp being like,” Chris offered.

“What kind of summer camp did you go to?” Dov asked.

Chris shrugged, “Church camp and…” He paused, “Cowboy camp.”

Dov put his hand on Chris’s shoulder, “Please tell me there are pictures of this cowboy camp. Actually, don’t answer that. I’ll just call your mom and ask.”

Everyone started to share their experiences at summer camps. Andy never went to one. Gail went once, for a day then called her dad to go get her. Dov went to a few meditation retreats, but never really went to camp. Nick just said he went camping for a few years in the desert in the Middle East.

Holly moved back to Gail’s lap after a while and they cuddled in the chair, watching the moon drop light on the lake, gleaming at them.

“Not so bad?” Holly asked softly.

Gail smiled at Holly and kissed her cheek, “Not so bad.”

“Who brought the tequila?” Andy asked, picking up the bottle from the stash of liquor behind the cooler.

“We got limes too,” Gail called over to her.

Andy looked around the grabbed the limes. She picked up the tequila and smiled at everyone, “I think shots are in order.”


	5. Chapter 5

The friends drank the weekend away, trading stories and laughs. Gail begrudgingly had fun. Of course on Sunday morning, she woke up in the middle of the gathering of trees, in the floor of the canoe. Chris was asleep on the ground next to her and he was holding an empty bottle of tequila like a teddy bear. Gail was covered in a blanket and when she trudged back the camp, she found that Andy’s tent had been crushed and was lying in a distorted mess. Andy was okay, already sitting on the log around the fire with the hood on her jacket up on her head. She was nursing a beer and offered it to Gail when she sat down.

“What happened last night?” Gail asked, plopping down in a folding chair, “That last thing I remember was… pushing the canoe? Did I do that?”

Andy smiled, “You and Chris were going to go out in the canoe at like two in the morning. I was going to try to stop you, but you were pushing the canoe the wrong way to get to the water so we figured that you wouldn’t drown. Holly went to check on you and said you both passed out.”

“What happened to your tent?” Gail asked, looking behind her at the flattened dome.

“You were making out with Holly when Chris and Nick decided to Greco-Roman wrestle,” Andy gestured vaguely to their tent, “I took your spot in your tent since you wanted to get into touch with nature more.”

Gail ran a hand through her hair, “I feel gross. I have nature all over me.”

Andy chuckled. “I was going to wait for Dov to get up before I get everyone else up. I hate waking him up.”

Gail hummed, “Me too.” She took a sip of the beer and handed it back to Andy.

There was a groan coming from Gail and Holly’s tent. Gail smiled and shared an amused look with Andy.

“Your girl can go hard,” Andy shook her head, “I don’t know how she did it.”

Gail got up and walked over to her tent. She unzipped it and crawled in. Holly’s hair was a mess and she was laying on her side. Gail shimmied behind her. She settled on top of her sleeping bag, putting her arm around Holly. “Are you going to be okay?”

“No,” Holly groaned, not moving. “I think I drank Mexico out of tequila.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Gail kissed Holly’s neck.

Holly giggled, but didn’t make a move to get up.

She eventually had to when everyone else was ready to go. Gail offered to put their tent up which resulted in half of it sticking out of the bag and the stakes, shoved into her backpack in between the empty liquor bottles.

Holly leaned on Gail all the way back to the car. Gail carried both of their bags and the tent because Holly looked like she was about to hurl everywhere. Gail was amused though. Holly hugged Andy goodbye and then ducked into the car. Gail got into the driver’s seat and drove them home.

“I might be dying,” Holly groaned under the spray of the shower.

Gail walked into the bathroom with a bottle of water and handed it around the glass to Holly. Holly took it and downed most of the water before leaned back on the wall.

“Med students have nothing on cops,” Holly lulled her head back so that the water was spraying on her face.

Gail smiled and leaned back on the counter, “Just don’t puke in the shower. I’m disgusting and I need to shower before we go back to bed.”

Holly looked through the foggy glass at Gail, “There’s room for two.”

That was all Gail needed to hear to start stripping. She stepped into the shower a minute later. Of course she knew there wasn’t going to be any fooling around because Holly could barely walk herself into the shower without feeling like she was going to throw up.

Gail move into Holly, pinning her up against the wall in a firm hug. Holly’s arms locked around Gail’s neck and she rested her forehead against Gail’s. Gail just held Holly under the spray of the water for a good ten minutes. It was warm and comfortable. There was something calming to Holly about her back pressed to the cold tile and her front pressed against Gail’s warm skin.

“I can’t believe you let me sleep in a canoe,” Gail smiled after another minutes.

Holly grinned, “I covered you up with a blanket. Don’t I get points for that?”

Gail nodded, “Yeah.” She kissed Holly, tenderly. “You get points for that.”

“Good,” Holly kissed Gail back and then lulled her head back, “Since I get points for that, I’m going to use those points to buy the rest of the day in bed. We have to recover.”

Gail agreed. She had work the next day. Spending the day in bed with Holly would be a great end to her weekend.

The next morning, Gail ended up in booking because the new rookie that was supposed to take that duty called in sick. She didn’t mind as much as she usually would have. It would give her time to text stupid texts to Holly throughout the day. She was going to take advantage of the downtime and bug her favorite pathologist.

However as she was sitting down for a long quiet day in booking, the phone on the desk rang. She picked it up, “Booking.”

“Hey,” the distinct voice of her brother came through the line, “Nathan Parker is in holding, back from the jail. I need you to bring him to the interview room as soon as you can.”

Gail looked around the empty booking room. “I’ll be right there.” She hung up the phone and tucked her phone back into her breast pocket. She probably had some time before Dov dragged in his first arrest for jaywalking or something.

Gail walked up to the cell and saw Nathan sitting on the bench in the holding cell. He seemed deeply immersed in a book so she paused out of habit. When Holly was reading Gail never interrupted her. She would always wait for Holly to acknowledge her.

Then Gail shook her head. This wasn’t Holly. This was some gangbanger accused of a double homicide. But before she could interrupt him, he spotted her. “So we meet again,” Nathan looked up from the book he was reading and saw Gail making a move toward the cell.

“How’s the book?” Gail asked deciding to just make small talk. Nathan stuck his hands out of the trap door so that Gail could put handcuffs on it. Then she opened the cell.

Nathan stood up slowly and walked purposefully out the door of the cell. He handed her the book, which she stuck behind the intake desk. Nathan continued the conversation as they walked. “It’s good. I’ve read it a few times already. It’s the only one that my lawyer could get in here before visitor’s hours were over.”

Gail picked up Nathan’s file of the desk as they left holding and walked him back to the interview rooms. She opened the door for him and he walked into the room and sat down.

Andy arrived with the food they were going to give Nathan for lunch, dropped it in the interview room with him, and then went to the observation room. She noticed the file in Gail’s hand and asked, “Is one of his aliases, Nate Jordan? Someone asked for him at the front desk.”

Gail flipped open the folder. “His legal name is Nathan Parker. He’s also known by Apollo Parker, Nate Parker, Nathan Carter. And other variations of those names. No Jordan.” The she looked through the file some more. “He was born Nathan Stewart, but changed it to Parker a few years ago.” Gail pulled up a chair and sat down. She read more about his history and soon was through the entire file while Andy just watched.

“What?” Andy asked, not really getting why Gail was so engrossed in the file.

Gail stood up and walked to the one-way mirror. She looked into the room at Nathan who had just finished half his sandwich. “Andy, c’mere.”

Andy walked over the glass and looked inside. “What?”

“Look at his eyebrows, not like his eyebrows, but between them,” Gail pointed through the glass. “Am I going crazy, but does that little indentation between his eyebrows when he moves them look familiar?”

Andy looked and looked, but couldn’t quite put a finger on it. “I mean it kinda looks like Holly’s-”

“I’m pretty sure that’s Holly’s brother,” Gail stated. “He was in the foster system. He was released to foster parents a few times after being arrested. His last name is Stewart and the eyebrow thing.”

Andy shook her head, “That doesn’t prove anything.” Although the more she looked at Nathan the more she was able to extract some characteristic that Holly shared. She shook her head again, trying to shake loose the thoughts that this guy was Holly’s brother. “It can’t be.”

Gail scrunched her lips to one side. She looked Nathan over and then picked up her phone. Andy was immediately at her side, “What are you doing?”

“Calling Holly,” Gail stated, easily finding Holly’s name in her phone.

“You can’t tell her that we might have found her brother,” Andy whispered urgently.

Gail shook her head and waved Andy off, when she heard Holly answer. “Hey, are you busy?”

“Just about to start an autopsy,” Holly replied, “What’s up?”

Gail swallowed and glanced over at Andy who was shaking her head, mouthing _don’t tell her_. Gail waved her off again, “What are the chances that two siblings have the same blood type?”

“There’s a wide ranges of probability,” Holly started to explain.

Gail cut her off, “What does it depend on?”

Holly hummed, “Parental blood types mostly. Some parental pairings can yield four different results. That’s why we don’t use blood type as an identifier if we don’t have to. It’s certainly not admissible in court. Some are more reliable than others because less of the world’s population has them and some house the majority of the population so it would be like using blonde hair to identify someone.” Holly paused for a beat, “But really it’s mostly used to connect someone to a crime scene. You can’t really positively match someone’s blood type to their sibling. We’d need to run DNA.” Gail could hear Holly moving around, “Are you bringing me something?”

Gail looked at the floor, “Not yet. I’ll call you back.” She mumbled a ‘love you’ and then hung up. She looked up at Andy who looked at her expectantly. She shook her head, “There’s no way. We’d need that guy’s DNA and Holly’s DNA and we’d have to get the lab to run it. The lab that Holly is in charge of.” Gail looked at Nathan through the glass.

“That would be…” Andy trailed off.

“It would be stupid,” Gail shook her head. The more the thought about it, the most uneasy it made her. “It would be stupid. Holly doesn’t even want to know her brother. If she did she probably could have put her own DNA into the system and found him herself.” Gail looked at the phone in her hand and the folder on the table. She felt really torn, but in the end Holly’s voice in her head helped her decide, “Stewart is a common last name. We can’t tell from blood type which is the only thing we know about both of them. And I’m sure other people have that…eyebrow thing.”

Andy put her hands on her hips. She knew that they shouldn’t jump to conclusions. As a police officer jumping to conclusions could be catastrophic. But the more she looked at Nathan… She took a deep breath. “So we don’t say anything?”

Gail shook her head. “No.”

Andy decided to differ to Gail. She assumed that Gail knew Holly better than she did.

As soon as Sam and Steve came to question Nathan again, Gail and Andy made themselves scarce. Their revelation…or weird encounter made it awkward to stay around.

Gail couldn’t stop thinking about it though. She thought about it so much that she worried how she was going to face Holly and pretend like nothing happened. She remembered what Holly had said when she first explained her lack of family. _Statistically, you have probably arrested him a few times. But I hope he’s happy now wherever he is._


	6. Chapter 6

Holly was looking over some bones that were found frozen in the forest when she heard boots lightly tap on her floor. She smiled, knowing who it was. She continued her examination, but listened to her office chair being rolled out and the hiss of the chair as her visitor sat down.

“To what do I owe this visit, Officer?” Holly asked, still not looking up from her bones.

“I heard that you have something for me,” Gail put her feet up on the desk.

Holly walked over to the desk and pushed Gail’s feet off of the desk. She noticed that Gail was in her street clothes. She smirked, “What did you hear?”

“Someone told me in the shower this morning that I was going to get dinner if I washed your hair for you,” Gail smiled and took Holly’s hand.

Holly smiled, “Oh yeah. I did promise that huh?” She slipped her fingers between Gail’s.

“It better be nice,” Gail smirked, loving the look on Holly’s face, “I washed, rinsed, _and_ repeated.”

“Anywhere you want to go,” Holly dipped her head down and kissed Gail, “Just give me like two minutes to put up these bones.”

“You can finish,” Gail offered, letting go of Holly so she could get back to work.

Holly shook her head, “The DNA is already running through the system. I was just looking for any kind of fracture or something that would make this go a little faster.” She pulled out brown paper bag, “I didn’t get anything.” She started putting the evidence away and looked over the bag at Gail, “So are we going for sushi or French food? Italian maybe?”

“I think Italian,” Gail swiveled around in the chair, completely slouched down.

After Holly got the bones put away, she changed into the clothes she came to work in and let Gail escort her out to the car.

Over dinner, Gail was quiet. She kept looking at her food and thoughtfully swirling it around. Holly noticed and had to asked, “Did something happen at work today?”

Gail’s immediate answer was no. She had been thinking about the possibility that the man Steve was probably still interrogating might be Holly’s brother. She wondered if she should tell Holly. Holly was mature and smart. Gail had no doubt she could handle it. She just didn’t want to upset Holly for no reason. Especially since the man who might be her brother is going to prison for a long time.

She shook her head to Holly, “I’m probably still recovering from this weekend.” She changed the subject, “How was work today?”

Holly shrugged, “I did some labs for the double homicide Sam and Steve are working, met with Sam to go over some things.” She gestured vaguely to her fork, “The couple that killed those people are apparently a way bigger deal than just a drug deal gone wrong.”

“Yeah?” Gail prodded, “Have you see him – the couple?”

Holly shook her head, “No.” She took a bite of her food, “but Sam said something about vice wanting to take a crack at him.”

That pretty much sealed the deal. Gail wasn’t going to tell Holly about Nathan. There was no reason to tell Holly that her brother might be some kind of super villain.

“Your mom called me too,” Holly offered, setting her fork down.

Gail frowned, “She what?”

Holly chuckled and picked up her wine, “She called me because you never answer when she calls you.”

“There’s a reason,” Gail droned, “What did she want?”

“Your cousin is getting married in Winnipeg next month,” Holly put her wine glass down and leaned back in her chair. “She wants you to be there.”

“Oh no,” Gail shook her head and leaned forward on the table with a sly smile, “She wants you there. Otherwise she would have just told Steve to tell me to go.”

“Why would she want me there?” Holly asked, looking around. She flagged down the waiter and ordered a tiramisu to split and two espressos.

“I don’t know _Dr. Stewart_ ,” Gail snarked with a grin. “You’re in law enforcement and you’re a doctor. I don’t know why my mom didn’t try to marry you herself.”

Holly laughed as their dessert arrived. “So are we going?”

Gail paused and sighed heavily, “Yeah I guess.”

“Your mom told me the name of the hotel that all the guests are staying at,” Holly added, handing Gail a fork, “I’ll make our reservation. Any requests?”

“As far away from my parents as possible,” Gail used her fork to take a bite of the tiramisu, “I’ll ask Steve if he and Traci are going. We can get rooms next door to each other, insulate ourselves. Some of my relatives are…odd wilderness people.”

Holly paid for dinner like she promised and they went home. Holly took her laptop to the couch, to work on her book a little bit before bed. Gail sat next to her and played video games.

When Holly was done, she put her head on Gail’s shoulder while Gail finished up her game. When Gail finished, she put her arms around Holly. “How’s the book coming?”

“Slowly,” Holly took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “I think I’ll just take half of Saturday after you go to work and hammer the intro out. I know it’s usually more prudent to do the intro last, but I think it’ll make me stay within the bounds of what I want to say as I go along”

Gail kissed Holly, “Sounds good.” She smiled. She never imagined being with someone like Holly. Someone who was more brains than brawn. Someone that could be as sarcastic as she could, but someone who knew when to not push her. Someone who would play video games with her all weekend and not stress about how they were supposed to go work out or leave the house like a normal person. Holly didn’t play normal. Holly was who she was.

Gail kissed Holly again, this time trying to show her how much she loved her with a kiss. But it would never work. She loved Holly more than a kiss could tell. She smiled and dropped her forehead on Holly’s shoulder.

Holly buried her fingers in Gail’s hair, gently massaging her scalp. Holly kissed the side of her head. Her arm slid all the way around Gail’s neck, so that Gail’s head was cradled against the inside of her elbow. Holly just held Gail, sending that she needed it. She felt Gail’s hands slipping on her shirt to rest against her side. Holly knew that sometimes Gail just wanted to feel her skin, just to know she was there or that she could. Holly wasn’t sure why, but she never said anything about it.

They didn’t say anything. Both of them just sat there and held each other. Holly would occasionally kiss Gail’s cheek or her neck until Gail pulled away with a smile. If it was anyone else, they would have wondered what was wrong or what was happening. Holly just smiled at her with completely acceptance.

Gail stood up and offered her hand to Holly. Holly took it and stood up. They walked to the bedroom. They parted ways to change, but didn’t move far from each other. When they were ready for bed, Gail was the first one to flop into bed and Holly crawled in after her. Holly turned off the last lamp and laid down on her side, facing Gail.

Gail slipped her hands under Holly’s shirt and around to her back, pulling her close. Holly stretched her arms forward and Gail lifted her head so that Holly’s left arm could settle under her head. Gail laid back down and closed her eyes. Being this close to someone used to be really awkward for Gail. Sex was fine, but holding something just never felt right. But everything about holding Holly felt right.

It was almost midnight when Gail’s phone rang. Holly, as usual, was the first person awakened by the noise. She slowly sat up and reached for the phone. When she saw who it was on the screen, she placed it in Gail’s hand, “It’s your brother.”

Gail groaned and answered, “What?”

“Are you busy?” he asked, clearly amused at his sister’s current state.

“I’m sleeping,” Gail grunted.

Steve chuckled, “Yeah, yeah I figured. I need you to come in and do a little UC. This Parker guy is in tight with some human traffickers and he’s supposed to meet with them tonight. He’ll only agree to do it if you and McNally are there.”

“Why me and McNally?” Gail sat up in the bed, knowing that duty was calling and she was going to have to go.

“You were the only ones that were nice to him,” Steve answered, “Which is probably a first for you.”

Gail turned sideways on the bed and put her feet down, “I guess interrogations didn’t go well then.”

“Not for him,” Steve replied coyly. “We’re going to be outside so dress warm.”

Gail hung up and leaned over the bed to kiss Holly, “I have to go to work.”

Holly understood that dating Gail came with weird hours and phone calls in the middle of the night so she got out of bed. Gail ducked into the bathroom to brush her teeth and do something with her unruly sleep hair.

Gail quickly got dressed and when she turned back to the bed to tell Holly goodbye, she saw Holly was gone. Gail smiled when she smelled coffee permeating the apartment. Gail stopped at the entrance to the kitchen. She leaned on the doorway and took in Holly in the green tank top and black and white boyshorts she wore to bed. Holly’s hair was hanging in subtle waves down her shoulders. She ran a hand through her hair and yawned as she watched the water in the French press become coffee, next to an empty travel mug.

Gail pushed off of the doorway and walked up behind Holly. She pressed her body again Holly’s, wrapping her arms around her. “You didn’t have to.”

Holly just hummed in dismissal. When she was content that the coffee was done, she poured Gail’s coffee into a travel mug with Gail’s arms still around her. Gail rested her chin on Holly’s shoulder as she watched her add sugar and cream just how she liked it. Holly stirred slowly, loving moment like that one where they didn’t need to speak.

After the lid was screwed on, Holly turned around in Gail’s arms. Gail kissed her softly and deeply, pinning Holly to the counter. She broke the kiss with a parting peck and added, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Holly stole one last kiss before she handed the mug to Gail.

Gail dropped a playful kiss on Holly’s lips before she grabbed her keys on the way out the door. Holly watched her leave from her perch in the kitchen. She crossed her arms, cold now without Gail wrapped around her. Holly knew she was going to worry about Gail the entire time she was gone so after Gail left, she went back to the bedroom and drug a blanket to the couch. Holly grabbed her laptop from her home office and started going through research for her book.

“Hey,” Andy was waiting for Gail on the sidewalk outside the apartment building. She smiled when Gail met the frigid midnight air.

Gail scowled and sipped her coffee, “Why are you so chipper?”

“Clandestine meetings in the freezing cold between human traffickers.” Andy shrugged, “What’s not to love?”

After they got into the car, Andy asked got serious. She looked over at Gail, “Did you tell her?”

Gail immediately knew what Andy was talking about and shook her head, “There’s no reason to. Especially if he is as terrible of a guy as it seems right now.”

“Is it weird how normal he seemed?” Andy asked as they started driving toward 15. “I mean with that lady he lived with and he was helping someone fix their kitchen.”

Gail shrugged, “When I was a kid I heard my parents talking about an arms dealer who used his kids’ soccer association to launder his dirty money.”

Andy just nodded in agreement. She had arrested average people for heinous things.

The Division was quiet when they walked in. Gail and Andy walked straight to Steve’s office. There was a small team of detectives all hovering around. Nathan was seated in an office chair with his hands cuffed in front of him.

“You’re here,” Luke walked over to the pair.

“What’s up?” Andy put her hands in her pockets.

“Nathan has agreed to take you two with him to meet his friends in exchange for a deal,” Luke explained, “The four of you are going to drive out to meet some a guy that we’ve been trying to get at for months.”

“Four?” Gail asked, looking around for another officer that was going undercover.

Luke looked behind them and nodded to the man that just walked in. Chris was in his regular clothes, looking wide awake.

“So who are we?” Andy asked.

“Some low level criminals looking to get at the big money,” Sam walked over to the rookies.

“What happened to his girlfriend?” Andy asked, a little uneasy about playing a felon’s riend.

“She rolled on him like truck,” Steve looked over his shoulder at Nathan, “It took an hour and she told us everything.” He showed them a picture, “This is Colin Argent. He is the head of a very large human trafficking ring. We’ve been looking for him for a long time.”

“We gotta go,” Nathan called from his chair, “They don’t like waiting.”

“We have mics in the truck you’re taking, but no one is going to wear a wire,” Luke explained, “It’s too dangerous. Stay close to the truck. If you need backup just mention the Blue Jays.”

Once in the truck, Nathan was uncuffed and seated in the back next to Andy. Andy put the handcuffs under the seat as they rumbled off.

Gail was uncomfortable. She was with a man who could be Holly’s brother, meeting a bunch of terrible people who did unthinkable things to other humans. She leaned on the door like she was bored, trying to making it seem like she did undercover meets all the time.

“Since you’re going to be my fake friends, I suppose we need to introduce ourselves,” Nathan offered, “I’m Nathan. My friends call me Apollo so you probably should too.”

“I’m Andy,” Andy introduced herself, “That’s Gail and Chris.” It was eerie to her how normal Nathan was acting. He was just sitting in the seat looking out the window like he wasn’t about to be spending decades in prison.

Nathan gave them directions to the meeting place. It was just off of a barely paved road. There was a newer tan truck parked next to a dense tree line. Nathan took a deep breath as they pulled up to the meeting spot.

Chris was the first one out of the truck. Gail didn't hesitate to follow him. Apollo got out and walked around the truck. Andy got out when he made it to her side of the car, making sure to leave her door open so that the microphones in the truck could pick up the conversation. Nathan greeted the three men leaning on the other truck and then looked around. “Where’s Colin?”

“He couldn’t make it,” one of the men told Nathan. “He wants to meet you Thursday.”

Nathan shook his head, “I can’t. I got pinched. I’m on bail, but I’m heading out of town.” He gestured to Andy. “She’s got a friend in Vancouver.”

One of Nathan’s friends looked Andy over. He shifted his weight and looked to the people around him. “How are you going to handle the shipment coming in next week?”

“I’ll still be in the game,” Nathan offered. “I’ll have proxies oversee it.” He thought quickly and turned to Gail and Chris. “These two.”

Chris looked a little surprised, but Gail kept a straight face. She had already spotted one gun on each man so she understood the completely need to keep it cool. Nathan knew that his friends noticed so he looked to Gail. She seemed to have it together, “You didn’t tell your boytoy?”

“Whoops,” Gail replied like she was bored.

Nathan looked back to the men in front of them, “So you’ll report to them.” He smiled leisurely, “Mostly her.”

The men laughed and Chris laughed uneasily.

“Hey, what was that?” one of the men looked behind the truck. “There was a flash of light or something.”

“Did someone follow you?” another man asked Nathan, agitated.

Nathan shrugged, “I don’t know. I was in the backseat.”

The man that had done most of the talking looked at Andy, “Yeah I bet you were busy.” He took a step toward her. “Have I seen you somewhere?”

“I doubt it,” Andy shook her head, “I’m kinda new to the area.” She was getting an uneasy feeling because she was starting to recognize the man in front of her as someone she arrested.

Gail knew that Andy was about to be made. She saw Nathan trying to think of something and Chris was still standing still. Gail quickly advanced on Andy and stood next to the man accusing her. “Did you bring the cops here?”

Andy’s eyes got wide, “No, of course not.”

In one swift movement, Gail pulled the gun out of the back of the man’s pants next to her and pointed it at Andy, “Bullshit! I knew you it.” She got closer to Andy and pushed her into the side of the truck. “Get in.” She waited for Andy to get into the truck before roughly shoving her in. “Chris, let’s go.” She ordered firmly. Chris got moving and slipped into the driver’s seat.

“Hey that’s my gun,” the man said.

Gail pointed it at the man from the open door of the backseat and smile wryly, “I think I’ll keep it.”

“Any problems with her being in charge while I’m gone?” Nathan asked the three men.

They all shook their heads.

Nathan nodded, “Good. I’ll be in touch.” He got into the passenger’s seat of the car. Gail watched the men with an icy glare through the window as Chris drove off.

As soon as they were out of sight, Gail dropped the clip out of the gun and emptied the chamber, “Jesus Christ, I’m going to kill whoever gave us up.”

“That was amazing,” Nathan turned around in his seat, “I thought we were all dead.”

Andy took a deep breath. She saw Gail looking at her. She caught Gail’s eyes and nodded. She understood that Gail just saved everyone’s asses. “I’m fine.”

Gail nodded to herself and then put the gun in the seat between them.

“One problem though,” Chris offered.

“We didn’t get him,” Nathan sighed. He leaned back in his seat. “He was supposed to be there.”

Chris pulled into the empty parking garage of a business building downtown. They had to drop off their UC car before they could go back to 15.

Luke and Sam were standing next to an unmarked car, both looking tense.

“What happened?” Andy asked as soon as she got out.

Sam hooked his thumbs through his gun belts and explained, “A rookie hit his lights while he was trying to use his radio.” He asked Andy, “You okay?”

Andy nodded, “Gail covered everyone.”

Sam patted Gail on the shoulder, “Good job, Peck.”

Luke put handcuffs on Nathan and put him in the back of his car. Then he looked at Gail, “We need to get this guy. Our intel says that he’s bringing in at least fifty people next week, mostly women and children.”

Gail nodded. “What do we do?”

“Apollo set you up with a great cover story,” Luke went on to explain, “You already have contacts. I need you to go deep UC.”

“Starting when?” Gail asked, crossing her arms.

“Gail, it’s now or never,” Luke told her. “You and Diaz are already in. McNally’s been made so she’s out.”

Gail’s stomach felt tight. She was going to disappear without seeing Holly or saying goodbye or ever consulting Holly on if she should go. Gail looked down and knew Holly would want her to do what she thought was right.

“How long?” Gail asked, biting her bottom lip.

“It could be over next week or it could take longer,” Luke told her. “It’s not really our call.”

“Max though?” Chris asked, mostly on Gail’s behalf. He was friend with both of them and tearing them apart for such a long time could fracture both of them.

Luke leaned back on his car and shook his head. “There’s really no way to know.” He looked at Chris, “You in?”

Chris nodded, firmly.

Gail wished she had more time to think it over. But she knew there wasn’t really anything to think over. She could save a lot of people from a terrible life in slave or sex trades. She looked over at Andy who was carefully watching her.

Gail swallowed, “I need you to tell Holly something.”


	7. Chapter 7

Holly realized she had fallen asleep on the couch when there was a knock at the door that woke her. She smiled. Gail was finally home. And surprise, surprise Gail had forgotten her keys.

Holly padded over to the door and unlocked it before she checked the peephole. She was surprised when the door swung open and Andy was standing there fidgeting with her keys.

Holly’s mind went to the worst possible scenario, “What happened? Is Gail okay?”

Andy quickly assured Holly, “She’s fine. I swear.” She paused, “But - Can I come in?”

Holly opened the door wider for Andy to walk in. Andy moved past Holly with her fists clenched and her head down. Holly closed and locked the door, then she followed Andy to the couch. She moved her laptop and sat down, bracing herself for god knows what. Andy turned toward Holly, her hands in her lap, “Gail had to the go undercover. Deep undercover.” Andy explained carefully, “We went to meet some guys about human trafficking and it got out of hand. Gail saved the cover, but I got made.” Andy watched Holly process.

“Are you okay?” Holly fidgeted with her hands.

Andy nodded, adding with a careless flip of her hand, “Yeah. Gail pointed a gun in my face, but it probably saved my life.”

“Someone is with her?” Holly asked clinically, just trying to get as much information as possible.

“Chris is with her,” Andy told Holly, trying to gauge how Holly was handling the news. “He’s got her back.”

Holly leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. She folded her hands, “How long?”

“We don’t know,” Andy put her hand on Holly’s arm, “I’m not allowed to know much. Detective Callaghan said there’s really no way to tell.”

Holly stared at the ground for a moment before she looked up at Andy. She said the only thing she could really think to say, “Okay.”

“Gail wanted me to tell you that she loves you and she’s sorry that she couldn’t tell you herself,” Andy put her hand on Holly’s back. “She also told me that you should probably practice Call of Duty while she’s gone so she can have some actual competition.”

Holly smiled. Gail was trying to make her laugh while she was in deep cover. Holly hugged Andy, “Thank you for coming to tell me.”

“Do you need anything?” Andy asked, placing her hands on Holly’s knees, “Anything at all?”

Holly took a deep breath, “I think I just need to go to bed. Let it sink it.”

Andy nodded, “I can stay if you want.”

“You don’t have to,” Holly shook her head. She couldn’t ask Andy to stay up anymore. Andy was on shift with Gail and that shift started twenty hours ago. Holly stood up. She hugged Andy again when she stood, “You’re just a few floors away.”

“Don’t hesitate to call me,” Andy led the way to the door. She opened it and turned around, “Promise?”

Holly nodded with a smile, “Promise.”

“We should have dinner tomorrow,” Andy added before leaving. She felt like the entire thing went way too well. She expected tears or something. She was worried that Holly was holding back.

“I’d like that,” Holly leaned on the open door.

“Goodnight,” Andy was hesitant to walk away, but Holly seemed okay.

Holly closed the door to her apartment and locked it. She leaned back on it and just stood there for a while. She couldn’t believe that she was going to have to live without Gail. She couldn’t believe that she wasn’t going to be able to count down the days until Gail came back because she had no idea when she’d be back. They hadn’t spent much time apart since they met and now they weren’t going to be able to see each other at all.

Holly could feel her eyes tingle with the beginnings of tears, but she forced them back down. She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to be selfish because what Gail was doing was selfless. Gail was going to help a lot of people and Holly was just going to have to move forward while Gail was gone.

=+=+=+

The sun was starting to come up as Chris drove Gail to the undercover apartment in their undercover truck. Gail looked at the directions on her new burner phone and pointed Chris in the right direction. It wasn’t a great neighborhood and the apartment building was a little run down, but it wasn’t too bad.

Chris and Gail walked up to the fourth floor on rickety wooden stairs. Gail spotted the corner apartment and used the keys Luke gave her to get into it. The inside was mostly bare. It was a small apartment. The living room was mostly filled with a couch that had seen better days. When Gail opened the refrigerator she found it completely stocked. There were two paper bags on the counter

“There’s new bedding in here,” Chris walked out of the short hallway with a plastic case of white sheets.

Gail picked up one of the paper bags and dumped it out on the kitchen table. There were two stacks of money, folded in half and held together with a rubber band. A new driver’s license for Gail was under the money as well as a new toothbrush and toothpaste. Chris looked through the other bag and found the same things.

Gail counted her money and found she was given two thousand dollars. She looked around the apartment for an appropriate place to hide it. When she stuck half of it behind a picture frame on the wall of some flowers and shoved half into her pocket.

Chris silently followed her into the bedroom. It was plain. There was a queen sized bed and a stack of bedding still in the plastic on the end of the bed. Gail started opening it and Chris followed her lead. He was getting worried that she hadn’t said anything.

“I’ll keep a sheet out so I can sleep on the couch,” Chris picked up one of the sheets.

“You don’t have to sleep on the couch,” Gail offered quietly, not looking up from the corner she was tucking.

Chris dropped the sheet on the bed, “Are you okay?”

Gail huffed, “I’m just tired. Let’s make the bed and get some sleep.”

“Andy and Dov will take care of Holly,” Chris told her. “Traci and Oliver too.”

Gail bit her tongue. She wanted to say that Holly could take care of herself. She wasn’t worried about Holly, she just missed her, but that would make her seem weak and that was something that she couldn’t allow herself in this undercover.

After they made the bed, Gail put her gun in her nightstand and Chris put his between the headboard and the mattress. The faced away from each other as they went to sleep, both thinking about the people they left behind.

Gail didn’t sleep very well. It seemed that she’d grown accustomed to Holly so much that anyone else in the room was a blazing abnormality that couldn’t be ignored. She woke up a few times in the middle of the night, rolling over or kicking at the blanket to get comfortable again. The longest she slept straight was only a few hours.

Gail woke up alone in the bed and finally decided to stop trying to go back to sleep. She rolled over and stretched. She actually felt better than she did the night before. She was less pissed, while still maintaining her usual morning irritability. After she took a shower and got dressed in the clothes that she wore the night before, she made her way out of the bedroom and through the small hallway.

Chris was in the kitchen cooking when she walked in. “Good morning.”

“’Morning,” Gail groaned. She went right to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup.

Chris was in his jeans from the night before and an undershirt. “I made you some hot cereal. I know you don’t like eggs.”

“Thanks,” Gail picked up her coffee and her cereal and sat at the table. After a sip of her coffee and a bite of her food, Chris sat down with his eggs. Gail looked over at him, “We have to go shopping.”

“What? Like to the mall?” Chris asked.

Gail shook her head, “Second hand stores. We came from out of town. We brought our clothes with us.”

Chris nodded. He knew that he had read the manual, but Gail had heard hundreds of first-hand accounts of undercover. Her brother had gone undercover multiple times. There had always been cops around her. This was a place where Gail would probably need to lead him. “Anything else I need to know?”

Gail shrugged, “Keep your phone charged and your gun close. We have to keep up what we started. I’ll be the psycho and you’ll be the strong, silent muscle.” Gail ran a hand through her hair. “What time is it?”

Chris looked at his watch, “Almost noon.”

After they ate, Gail got her coat and Chris put his shirt on so they could go get clothes.

Gail got a text as they walked to the truck. _It’s Apollo. I gave the guys your number. He should be in contact with you later today._ She showed it to Chris.

“Who is that?” Chris asked, getting into the truck.

Gail sat down and saved the phone number as Apollo, “It’s probably Luke.”

Chris drove them to the second hand store and they shopped for about an hour, leaving with a lot of new, old clothes. They went back to their apartment and started the laundry. Gail had just settled onto the couch for a TV show when her phone rang.

“Hello?” Gail asked, pretending, but not having to try hard, to be irritated.

“Hey, it’s Mark from last night,” the man on the phone said.

Gail sat up and looked at Chris. She motioned him over to the couch and put the phone on speaker, “Do you have some news for me?”

“The shipment is running on time,” he told her, “How’s your police friend?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Gail answered smoothly, “She’s taking a vacation at the lake.” Gail vaguely insinuated that Andy was at the bottom of a lake.

Mark laughed, “I can see why Apollo likes you.”

“When is the shipment going to be here?” Gail asked coldly, “I want to inspect.”

“We have some party favors coming in tomorrow, but the party gets here in five days,” Mark explained to her.

Gail tapped the table. “I’ll let Apollo know. I want to see it though.”

“Of course,” Mark paused, “Um, how about we meet at my buddy’s club tomorrow night?”

“Sure,” Gail leaned back on the couch, “Text me the address and I’ll be there at ten.”

Mark agreed and told Gail that he would see her then. Gail hung up and leaned back on the couch. “I told you that gold dress I got would come in handy.”

“Fine,” Chris smiled, “What are we going to do until tomorrow?”

“We should go out to eat,” Gail offered, “Since we’re stuck out here.”

“I saw a pub down the street,” Chris suggested, pointing his thumb in the direction of the parking lot, “We could walk.”

They left the apartment and locked up. Chris took Gail’s hand as they stepped out of the apartment building. Gail’s first reaction was to rip her hand away, but she stopped herself. They were supposed to be a couple.

It just felt wrong. She missed Holly. Chris’s hand wasn’t like Holly’s. His hand was big and clunky. Holly’s hands were…they were sure and elegant. Holly’s hands could find Gail’s effortlessly. Their fingers threaded together without a thought. Gail loved the way that Holly walked closer to her when their hands were linked. She could feel Holly next to her.

Gail didn’t want to hold hands with Chris anymore so she let go of him and moved closer to him. He put his arm around her, knowing what she was doing.

He rubbed her shoulder as they walked and kissed the top of her head. It was a friendly kiss, like he was apologizing for not being Holly. Gail let him open the door for her. She went to sit at a round booth with Chris behind her. Chris put his arm on the back of the seat behind Gail. She leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder.

“You and me,” Chris told her quietly before the server walked over to them, “We’ll be okay.”

Gail nodded, knowing that Chris could feel her affirmation. She knew that she and Chris were going to be okay. As long as she could keep up her psychotic bitch in charge act and as long as Chris could stick to the roles, they would be okay. Gail just wished that there was a way that she could know that Holly was okay.


	8. Chapter 8

“Holly,” Andy spoke quietly from the door of Holly’s office. She’d been standing there for about three minutes, but wasn’t sure how to approach her friend. It seemed that she was isolating herself. She hadn’t gotten a call or a text from Holly all day and that was really out of the ordinary. There was usually at least a teasing text or something.

Holly didn’t look up from her computer where she continued to type away. “Hey Andy.” Her voice was cold and even. She could have been dictating an autopsy instead of greeting her friend.

Andy walked slowly toward Holly’s desk and stood in front of it. She nervously tapped the edge of it. “Do you still wanna…go get something to eat?”

“I’m okay. I’m just going to keep working,” Holly momentarily looked up at Andy.

Andy saw her eyes were red around the edges. She felt terrible for Holly and really wanted to help. “I can wait.”

“I don’t know when I’ll be done,” Holly’s voice was firmer.

“I don’t have anything else planned,” Andy shrugged with her hands in her back pockets, “I have tomorrow off. I can wait.”

“Andy I-” Holly started talking but stopped herself. She huffed. “I can’t…”

Andy nodded knowing what Holly was doing. She rocked back on her heels, “I know it’s hard, Holly. But – but what happens when all the work is done?”

Holly leaned back in her chair and looked at Andy. She just looked defeated. “I can rationalize what Gail did. I know that she had to do it. It’s her job and she’s doing it to save those people. But it’s dangerous,” Holly’s eyes filled with tears and she looked up at the ceiling to keep from crying, “It’s so, so dangerous and I didn’t…I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

Andy moved around the desk and crouched in front of Holly, “Gail knows that you love her. I’ve never seen her so happy and I’ve never seen her so hesitant to do something that could make her career. You’re the most important thing to her, okay? She would have said goodbye if she could.”

Holly buried both of her hands in her hair and massaged her scalp. “I need to work or I need a drink.”

“Sam owes you a few drinks,” Andy offered Holly a hopeful smile, “I think we should go cash those in.”

“I can’t go to the Penny,” Holly shook her head. “Why don’t we go…somewhere else?”

Andy offered her hand to Holly, “C’mon. We’ll find a place.”

 It wasn’t twenty minutes later that they were at a small pub down the street from where they both lived. Holly was through her second drink by the time Andy had sipped down half of her first one.

Holly was quiet for a moment, looking around the worn bar. Her eyes graced the wooden panels on the walls and the colored lights hanging over them. She leaned back and then asked to the ceiling, “What’s it like undercover?”

Andy shrugged, rolling the bottom of her beer bottle on the table. “It’s like playing house. There’s a lot of downtime.”

Holly took a deep breath, “How long did it take you to get into your…groove or whatever with Nick?”

“It only took a few days,” Andy replied, looking at her friend. She wondered how many she should let Holly drink before she dragged her home. “Our cover was easy. It was…easy to slip into.”

“Great,” Holly picked up her glass and took a long drink. She drink turned into gulps and she downed the last of her third drink.

Andy sensed something else was going on so she asked, “What’s up, Holl?”

Holly looked down at the drink that the waitress set in front of her. She put both of her hands around it, “Gail’s good at undercover?”

“She was great all the times I’ve done it with her,” Andy tilted her head to get a better look at Holly’s downturned face.

“What if she’s too good at it?” Holly asked quietly like she wasn’t sure if she wanted Andy to hear her. “What if she plays Chris’s girlfriend so convincingly that when they come back…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish. She felt stupid and selfish for even thinking that. But after a lifetime of being moved around and tossed aside, a lifetime of being abandoned, Holly was starting to wonder when Gail was going to drop the other shoe. Holly lowered her head closer to her drink, “It happened with you.”

Andy shook her head, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Gail and I are about as opposite as people get. The only reason she hesitated to go out there was because she didn’t want to leave you. She never wants to leave you. Not even to go to work. She’ll try to make up any excuse she can to go to the crime lab during our shift.” Andy smiled, “I’ve never seen her this happy which, if I’m honest, is a little scary.”

Holly smiled and shook her head, “I know I shouldn’t worry about that. I think it’s easier to worry about that though, than to worry about what could happen to her, especially if her cover is blown.”

“Luke is an amazing handler,” Andy put her hand on top of Holly’s, “And Chris has her back. She’s really quick on her feet. They’re an amazing undercover team.” Andy gently squeezed Holly’s hand.

“Thanks for trying to make me feel better,” Holly offered a sad smile, “But I’m still going to worry.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to stop,” Andy flagged down the waiter and asked him for another round.

Holly tapped the table, “Should we call Dov? His best friend is gone too.”

Andy smiled and picked up her phone, “Great idea.”

Dov arrived at the bar less than twenty minutes later. Andy asked where Chloe was and Dov told them that she was spending some time with her family. Holly seemed to know it was a half-assed excuse so that she wouldn’t have to watch them be couple-y in front of her.

The trio drank a few more rounds before ordering some nachos.

A microphone being turned on got their attention. A man stood up on a chair and put a microphone to his mouth, “Alright, alright, alright everybody welcome to Team Trivia Night at the Tavern. We’re going to start signing up teams over at the far side of the bar. Four or more people per team, but no more than six.”

Dov looked excited for a moment before he seemed to realize that there were only three of them. Holly smiled, “Call Chloe.”

“Really?” Dov perked up.

Andy and Holly laughed. Andy looked over at Holly who smiled and shrugged. Andy looked at Dov, “Go ahead.”

Dov got up from his seat, got his phone out, and walked to the far side of the bar to sign them up. Andy flagged down the waitress and told her that she was done drinking for the night, but everything else that her table drank for the rest of the night was on her.

Dov came back with a wireless buzzer in his hand. “We’re going to start in fifteen minutes.” He looked at his phone, “Chloe will be here in ten.”

And just like promised, Chloe arrived before the start of the game. She kissed Dov as she sat down and he got up to go to the bathroom. Chloe smiled at Holly and Andy. “Hey,” She put her purse on the table and sat down. The waitress walked up next to her and asked her what she wanted, “Crown and Coke, please.” When the waitress walked away, she addressed Holly and Andy, “You know this is Dov’s trivia dream team right?”

The host stood on a chair again with a sheet of paper in his hand. “Six teams registered.”

“Don’t make fun of the name,” Dov said as he returned to the table. He sat down at the host went through the list. Finally, the table heard the name they were sure Dov gave them. “Three Cops and A Doctor.”

Between everyone at the table, there wasn’t much they didn’t have a general knowledge about. They won two hundred dollars and their bar tab covered. They split the money four ways and ordered some poutine and another round.

After they decided to call it a night, Dov and Chloe hugged Andy and Holly at the front door. They parted ways, going in opposite directions.

“Thanks for dragging me out tonight,” Holly told Andy. “I think I needed it.”

Andy smiled, “It’s really no problem.”

Holly walked with Andy quietly back in the direction of their apartments. When they arrived, Andy insisted on walking Holly to her door even though she was fairly sober already. They said goodnight with a hug and Holly walked into her apartment. Her empty apartment.

There was something profoundly depressing about the silence in the apartment. Holly dropped her keys on the counter as she walked past it and took off her coat. For whatever reason, Holly couldn’t bring herself to go into the bedroom. Holly stripped down to her underwear and a cami. Then she laid down on the couch, pulling the throw over herself. Tomorrow she was might be a grown up and face the empty bedroom, but tonight she was going to go to sleep on the couch, trying not to think about the silence in the apartment.

=+=+=+=

Gail looked at herself in the mirror. Her dress didn’t leave any room for a gun so she tucked one into her clutch. She rolled out her shoulders and looked across the bedroom at Chris, putting on his shoes. Chris was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt under a jacket. He pretty much looked like he always did when he wasn’t in uniform.

Gail looked back into the mirror and tried to find her crazy place. Officer Gail was sarcastic and subdued. Undercover crime lord Gail was pull-a-gun-on-a police-officer-and-leave-the-body-in-a-lake crazy.

Gail’s phone buzzed on the bed. She moved to the bed and picked it up. It was a text from “Apollo.” _Bring the coke to me. We have some new distributors._

Chris was looking at Gail when she read the text. Gail showed it to him. Chris looked back at Gail, “What if they want money for it or something?”

“I’ll just threaten to shoot all of them right there in the club,” Gail replied, but asked Luke what she should do if they want money. He told her to tell them that they’ll get it at the meeting for the human cargo.

Chris looked up at her, “Are you serious?”

 “I’ve already portrayed myself as an absolute psycho,” Gail picked up the keys to the truck, “I have to keep that up.” She tossed the keys to Chris and led the way out the door.

The bass could be felt across the street from the club. It was a lot nicer than Gail imagined. It actually seemed like a place that Holly would drag her out dancing. Gail took a deep breath, both wishing that Holly would be inside dancing her heart out with her friends and wishing that she would be far away from the club and all the nefarious people inside.

Gail looked over her shoulder at Chris. She didn’t ask him if he was ready. She didn’t have to. She saw him set his jaw and fall in step behind her. She was thankful that they had been working together so long and also that they lived together. They had insights to each other that most coworkers didn’t.

Gail walked right up to the bouncer. The people that were waiting in line eyed her, but she kept her arrogant air about her. She looked the bouncer dead in the eye when she said, “I’m here to see Mark.”

The bouncer looked like he was about to turn her away when Mark came briskly out of the club. He grabbed the bouncer’s arm and pulled him away from Gail, putting himself between them. Mark smiled nervously, “Sorry about that. He’s new. C’min, follow me.”

Gail didn’t say anything. She just walked behind Mark into the club. Chris put his hand on the small of her back, but kept a little behind her so that they were still portraying who Mark thought they were. A complete psycho and her strong, silent boyfriend.

Mark led them through the club that was packed and pulsating. The music was blaring and the lights were varying shades of purple and green, strobing and panning the club. The bar was lit up with stark white lights across from a DJ that was tweaking the sounds.

Mark checked behind him to make sure he hadn’t lost Gail and Chris on their way to the back. Another security guard held a curtain back for them to step into the VIP room. The other two men that were with Mark when they met with Apollo were seated on a half circle couch. There were multiple empty liquor bottles on the table in front of them. It was apparent by their slouches who drank them.

When Mark turned to Gail, she saw that he had had a few as well. He smiled sloppily at her, “I got the stuff.”

“All of it?” Gail narrowed her eyes. She had a sneaking suspicion that Mark had had a little more than alcohol by the looks of his eyes.

Mark laughed, “Well I had a little. To test it.”

Gail looked behind herself at Chris and jerked her head toward Mark. Chris knew enough to know that they were going to play this game hard. He moved to Mark and shoved him onto the couch between his drunken friends.

“You had more than a little,” Gail accused, narrowing her eyes.

Mark’s glassy eyes were wide, “I just – I usually…Apollo doesn’t say anything.”

“Apollo is hiding out in a shack on a lake because he let his teams get sloppy,” Gail swiftly swept the table of all the empty bottles and glasses that were on it, sending them crashing onto the ground. “That’s why he brought me in.”

The man on Mark’s left stood up and clenched his fists. “Hey, don’t fu-” He started to trip over his tongue when Chris looked hard at him, looming a few inches behind Gail.

“Where is it?” Gail demanded.

Mark got up off of the couch and scrambled to the corner where another table and couch sat. He picked up a paper bag that was under a jacket. He walked over to Gail and handed it over. Gail peeked inside the bag. Then she handed it off to Chris.

She was alarmed when Mark reached into his pocket, but found that he was only getting out a business card. “I have the meeting place for the cargo.” He looked the card over and then handed it to Gail. “Sunday night.”

Gail took the card and tucked it into her clutch making sure that Mark got a peek at the gun hiding in there as well. Mark tried to take a subtle step back.

“I need something to cover that up with,” Gail gestured vaguely to Chris after she closed her clutch.

Mark snapped at the man next to him, “Give her your jacket.”

The man looked a little pissed, but he shrugged off his blazer and handed it to Mark. Mark handed it to Gail. “Are you going to stay for a drink?”

“We have another meeting to get to,” Gail replied like she was bored. She put the jacket over the paper bag that Chris was carrying. Chris tried to make it look like he was just carrying the jacket draped over his arm.

She didn’t say anything else. She just strutted out of the VIP section with Chris hot on her heels.

In the truck, Chris handed Gail the drugs. Gail picked up her phone and called ‘Apollo’.

“Yeah?” Luke answered the phone.

Gail looked out the windshield and saw the bouncer looking at her. Chris started the truck and pulled away. Gail turned her attention back to the phone conversation, “We’re bringing the package to you. I’ll meet you at the Foundry.”

“Foundry?” Chris mouthed to himself.

Luke chuckled, impressed that Gail knew what the Foundry was and probably where it was. “Alright then. The Foundry.”

Gail hung up and put her phone in her lap. She told Chris, “It isn’t an actual foundry. It’s a safe house in Long Branch. In the seventies a guy used the basement to manufacture weapons. The sign on the front of the door says condemned, but my dad put that sign up there to keep people away. The people in the neighborhood think it’s a drug lord’s safe house so they stay away.”  Gail put the drugs in her lap, into the backseat.

“Your family seems like a good time,” Chris pulled to a stop at a light and looked over at Gail. She smiled proudly. Chris smiled back and they took off for the Foundry.

Gail gave Chris directions into the alley behind the Foundry. It was a small residential alley. Gail told Chris to pull into the open garage next to an old muscle car. Chris didn’t feel at ease. He didn’t turn the car off. He looked around the garage, trying to see Luke or any other officer.

Gail’s hand landed on her gun when she heard the garage door starting to move down behind them. She relaxed a little when she saw Luke step out from behind a storage cabinet.

Chris saw him as well and turned off the truck. He and Gail got out of the truck, Gail making sure to grab the drugs.

Luke had a small paper bag in his hand. Luke smiled when Gail walked up to him, “I should have known you’d know about the Foundry.”

Gail shrugged, “I’ve been by here a few times, but never inside.” Gail looked around the garage, “It’s not much to look at.”

“The inside isn’t much better,” Luke shrugged. He offered the paper bag to Gail, “Here’s the street value of the coke. When you meet for the human cargo, just flash the money a few times, don’t give it to them. We’ll pick them up before it comes to that.”

Chris peeked inside the back and exhaled audibly. “Whoa.”

Gail handed Luke the drugs and took the bag of money. She took a deep breath. She knew what bad people would do for this kind of money, especially if it was being waved in front of them. “What happens at the takedown?”

“You and Diaz will be arrested just like all the other perpetrators,” Luke explained. “We’ll take you to 15 and the others to 7. You’ll be debriefed and released.”

Gail nodded. She only had a few more days away from Holly. She could definitely handle that.


	9. Chapter 9

“The techs couldn't find her hairbrush, but she has a dog,” Sam presented Holly with a brush in a plastic evidence bag as they stood over a body on the autopsy table.

Holly smiled and accepted the gift, “Nice job, Detective Swarek.”

“Actually it was McNally who noticed,” Sam smiled. “It seems hanging out with you is turning her into a future homicide detective.”

“Based on the ones I’ve met,” Holly bantered with a smile, “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

Sam put his hand on his chest, “Oooh.” He laughed, “It looks like I owe you another drink. What is that six now?”

“Eleven,” Holly grinned, taking the brush over to one of her microscopes, “But who’s counting?”

“If you swing by the Penny tonight, I’ll start paying off my debt.” Sam offered.

Holly was hesitant to go to the Penny. She and Gail always had so much fun there, but Holly was scared that it would be weird without Gail. But Holly knew she couldn’t just stop living because Gail was gone. She’d never been this disappointed when someone in her life left and she had been left a lot.

“Yeah,” Holly finally decided that she couldn’t sequester herself, “I’ll be there after work.”

“Great,” Sam put his hands in his pockets, “I’ll see you there.”

After work, Holly made her way to the Penny. She walked in like she usually did and scanned the bar for people she knew.

“Holly,” Steve called from his place at the bar. It was dim in the bar, and the bright afternoon light slowly slipped away as the door closed behind Holly.

Holly smiled and walked over, “Hey.”

“What brings you down here?” Steve turned toward her on his stood. He was only on his first drink having a arrived only a few minutes earlier.

“Detective Swarek owes me a few drinks,” Holly answered, taking off her jacket.

Steve shook his head and chuckled, “I’m sure that I owe you a few.” Steve signaled the bartender for a drink for Holly.

Holly heard the beep of her phone. She pulled it out of her jacket pocket. As she was opening the text, Steve’s phone buzzed on the bar.

Steve smiled as he read the text, “What’s the chance that there will be another arms trafficker to keep me out of this dinner?”

Holly looked up from the text, “Do your parents know that Gail is undercover?”

“Yeah,” Steve nodded, “My mom was a quiet storm when she found out.” He smiled, “But you’re part of the family now. Even if you try to escape, my mom will keep inviting you to dinner. There is sixty years of detective experience in that house. She will track you down.”

Holly gently tapped her phone on the bar. “Your family is amazing.”

Steve knew that Holly grew up without a permanent family and he knew that as dysfunctional as his family was at times, they were a close family. “Yeah I guess.” He added, “You know I’d like it if you came to dinner. If you’re uncomfortable, you don’t have to, but I meant what I said. You’re family now.”

“I think I will,” Holly agreed, trying to carry on as normal.

Steve patted her back, “Good.”

“Dr. Stewart!” Sam called the second he walked in and spotted her. She turned toward the door and Sam walked in saddling up to the bar next to her. “I see you started without me.”

“You’re not the only detective in debt to our favorite medical examiner,” Steve leaned over the counter to look at Sam.

They had another round in them before Oliver walked in. He greeted everyone and suggested a round of doubles billiards. Steve claimed Holly saying that she was his sister-in-law therefore he got first crack at having her as a partner.

“How are you holding up?” Oliver asked Holly while they leaned against an adjacent table, waiting for Sam and Steve to rack up the balls.

Holly nodded, knowing what Oliver was really asking her, “I’m okay. There’s not really anything I can do right now anyway.”

“Gail’s smart,” Oliver assured her, “Last time she went undercover our team arrested at least thirty Johns.”

Holly laughed at the thought of Gail pretending to be a hooker. “That’s – that’s interesting.”

Oliver smiled. “Celery is worried about you. She has some tea or something she’s making that she wants to bring to you.”

“I can meet her,” Holly smiled fondly. She and Celery got along well. It helped that have someone to talk to that wasn’t a cop. Someone who knew the kind of constant worrying went on in the background of her brain. “We need to go out and have tea. I’ll call her.” Holly picked up her pool cue and placed it back on the ground, just to have something to focus on.

Oliver put his arm around Holly, “You are welcome around 15. Anything that helps. I know it’s hard. McNally was gone for months. It took a toll on everyone.”

Holly looked at the ground, “Thank you. I’m still trying to work out what helps.”

 “Well, you can always talk to me,” Oliver told her as Sam called him up to take a shot, “I know you and McNally have that – uh that BFF thing going on but, sometimes you need a big brother.”

Holly smiled, so grateful for all the people that joined her life when she met Gail. “Thanks, Oliver.”

“And sometimes,” Steve leaned back on the table, on Holly’s other side after Oliver went to go take his shot, “you need more than one big brother.” He put his arm around her and she leaned into him. It was nice to be able to lean on someone, but Steve wasn’t Gail.

Gail knew just how to hold her every single time. Gail’s arm had a permanent place across her back, with her fingers gently resting around her waist. Gail knew how to relax Holly completely with just a few strokes of her fingers across Holly’s side.

+=+=+=+

Gail and Chris rolled up to the meet in the gravel parking lot of the closed factory. There was an eighteen wheeler idling next to the truck that Gail recognized as Mark’s.

She got out of the car, leaving the money inside. Chris quickly made his way to Gail. He was a little worried that she was taking this psycho murderous crime lord thing a little far.

“What’s it look like?” Gail asked Mark as she walked up to him, “Everything we asked for?”

Mark opened his mouth, but closed it again. “I – they didn’t. Colin, he -”

Gail’s face hardened, “What happened?”

“He only sent half of the shipment,” Mark explained, “Colin said that this area is getting too hot.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gail asked, marching to the back of the truck.

Mark quickly followed her, “He said that we’ll have them next week in Quebec City. Plus more.”

Gail pretended like she was going to open the door then stopped and paced behind it, “I swear to god Apollo is going to have my ass for this,” she whirled on Mark, surprising both Chris and the other men. Gail pointed at him menacingly, “and then I’m going to put you through a wood chipper.”

Mark stuttered, “We can get the rest of it! I swear!”

Gail made a fist and then paced away from Mark. She pulled out her phone and called ‘Apollo’. She paced around as she talked to him. She was furious that the reason she left her family and her girlfriend was going to be for nothing.  She was using all of that anger to play her part. She told Luke what was going on. He seemed pissed as well.

But Luke gave her an address for Mark’s men to take the shipment. Gail knew how this worked. They were going to be pulled over for a minor traffic violation on their way and the cops were going to find some reason to take a look in the truck. Then the whole thing would be busted.

Gail set her jaw and looked at Chris, “What about the rest of it?”

“CSIS wanted in on this and now we have to let them,” Luke told her with a huff, “Take your middle man with you to Quebec. I’ll give you the name of your new handler as soon as I get it.”

Gail rubbed her forehead. She was beyond livid. “Fine.” She hung up. She looked up at Mark’s men, “Get in the truck.” She gave them the address where Luke wanted to send them. She wasn’t even sure it was a real place. She just knew how these things usually worked. Then she turned to Mark, “You’re coming with us to Quebec.”

“I can’t – I mean I -” one of the Mark’s men started stuttering.

Gail didn’t hesitate to pull out her gun and point it at the man, “You can’t what?” Chris’s stomach clenched. He was getting worried about Gail. Either she was really convincing or she was actually coming unhinged.

The man put his hands up. “I’m going! I’m going!”

Gail dropped the gun and watched the men get into the truck. Gail looked to Mark, “You trust them?”

Mark nodded, “Yeah.”

“I don’t,” she gestured for Chris and Mark to get into her truck, “We’re going to follow him.”

They made it about halfway across town before Gail noticed the police cruiser behind them. They were right behind the truck so the police car couldn’t see them. Luckily the men in the truck weren’t the most law abiding drivers. It only took a few minutes for them to run through a stoplight.

When the lights on the cruiser went on, Chris knew he needed to look a little scared. He sat up straighter and looked at Gail, “What do we do?”

“Pull over,” Gail told him evenly.

Chris pulled over and the cruiser passed by them. The men in the truck pulled to the side of the road and the police cruiser stopped behind them.

Gail looked into the backseat at Mark, “Are they going to blow this?”

Mark swallowed. He was starting to sweat. He wasn’t sure how they were going to act and he was terrified of Gail, “I don’t know. We usually only handle drugs. This is the first time and I-” He stopped when Gail glared at him. “I don’t – I don’t know.”

“Fantastic,” Gail forcefully fell back into her seat. She gestured to the parking lot next to them, “Pull in here. We can watch from the car.”

And just like Gail thought, the men in the truck acted suspicious enough so that the police officers had good reason to ask to look in the back of the truck. As the men and the officers walked to the back of the truck, Chris looked over at Gail, “We should go.”

Gail nodded. She leaned back in her seat and warned, “This is not looking good for you Mark.”

Mark dropped his head in his hands, sure that he was about to go meet the cop that Gail threw into the lake.

Instead, Gail asked where Mark lived so that they could drop him off to pack for Quebec City. She got his phone number and told him she’d call him when they were ready to leave town. After they dropped him off, Chris asked, “Are you sure he’s still going to be here when we get back?”

Gail shrugged, “I think so. He’s pretty scared of me.”

“I’m getting scared of you,” Chris replied, with thinly veiled honesty.

Gail rolled her eyes, “You’ve always been scared of me.” She took a deep breath, “Apollo says CSIS is in charge now. There’s no telling how much longer we’ll be under.”

They didn’t have to wait long at the apartment before Luke called. He told them to meet him back at the Foundry.

Gail drove to the Foundry this time. They got food on the way and found the garage door open again. She parked next to Luke’s car and the garage door closed behind them. Luke appeared after it was closed and gestured for them to follow him.

They made their way out of the garage, into the neglected backyard of the house. Instead of going inside, Luke pulled open the door to the basement. They all walked in, finding a man and a woman sitting at an old folding table. Sitting on a folding chair in the corner was Nathan, handcuffed, but in street clothes. The woman had long straight red hair and the man was holding onto the last follicles that he could around the back of his head.

Luke gestured to the woman, “This is Sergeant Quinn from the RCMP and,” he moved his gesture toward the man, “Special Agent Cooper with CSIS.”

Both federal agents stood and shook hands with Gail and Chris. They explained how important this operation was. They had made it into the largest human trafficking syndicate in the country. They had had people trying to infiltrate it and shut it down for months, but had no luck.

“Why is he here?” Gail asked, jerking her head toward Nathan.

“This is your chance to ask him anything,” Luke crossed his arms, “Your last chance. He’ll help in exchange for serving his sentence in a medium security penitentiary in BC.”

“Why?” Gail looked at Nathan directly.

“I have some people I want to talk to,” Nathan answered, “I can’t do that in max.”

Gail set her jaw. “Your sister?”

“Hopefully,” Nathan shrugged, “When I find her.”

Gail was content knowing that in the moment Nathan had no idea about Holly. Then she looked at Chris. He nodded to her. Gail rubbed her eyes, “Fine.” She looked around and grabbed a chair. She sat down and she and Chris spent the next few hours asking Nathan everything they could think of. Gail asked a few vague questions about Nathan’s family that did nothing, but add more evidence to the side of Gail’s internal file pointing toward Nathan being Holly’s brother.

The federal agents told them that they had the backing of the entirety of Canadian law enforcement. Quinn was going to be their handler in Quebec City. Cooper was going to provide them with all the intelligence that he could.

“I’m flying out at seven tomorrow morning,” Quinn told them. She made sure Gail and Chris had her phone number and used her laptop to give them a list of dummy contacts, texts, and phone calls so their phones wouldn’t appear suspicious to anyone looking over their shoulders. “I’ll contact you with your hotel information.”

“What are your undercover last names?” Cooper asked, a pencil poised to write.

“Rossi,” Chris told them.

“Moreau,” Gail answered. She was glad that Chris has memorized his last name. She had been so concerned with being the perfect undercover officer that she forgot to make sure Chris was on his game.

When they left the Foundry, Gail and Chris were exhausted. They went straight to bed when they got back to their apartment. It was in bed that Gail realized she would be farther away from Holly for a longer time. Her stomach clenched with the thought that Holly was alone. She knew that most of Holly’s life, people had come and gone. She never wanted to leave Holly and although it wasn’t permanent, Gail was still gutted that she didn’t even get to say goodbye.

And truth be told, she missed Holly more than she’d ever missed anyone. She missed her smile and her smell. She missed laying next to her at night and knowing that Holly loved her more than anyone she’d ever shared a bed with.

=+=+=+

Holly was looking over the notes that her assistant sent over and making annotations when there was a knock on her door. As always, she hoped it was Gail, but rationally she knew it probably wasn’t. It was late so she was a little wary.

Holly cautiously walked to the door and checked the peephole. When she saw who it was, she opened the door.

Every time someone visited her in the middle of the night, Holly was terrified that they were there to deliver bad news about Gail. So when Steve smiled at her and offered her a six pack, Holly was relieved. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Steve told her, walking in after Holly opened the door for him, “It’s nice to see that I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.”

“I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since she left,” Holly confessed, taking the six pack to the kitchen. She got out the bottle opener and popped the top off of two of the beers, “I did take a really nice nap in the morgue today though.”

“I don’t know if I’m impressed or grossed out,” Steve accepted the open beer Holly gave him and they both moved toward the couch. Holly set her beer on the coffee table and gathered up her research, placed it on top of her laptop and moved it to the table.

“Am I interrupting something…incredibly boring?” Steve asked, looking over the papers.

Holly smiled, “It’s just research for something I’m writing.”

“Your new book,” Steve sat down on the couch and took a sip of his beer.

“Yeah,” Holly nodded.

Steve reached into the pocket of his jacket and extracted a DVD, “How do you feel about old cop movies?”

“If you think for a second that I have lived with Gail all this time and have not seen Dirty Harry, you are sadly mistaken,” Holly sunk down onto the couch.

Steve jumped up and put the DVD in the player. “One more time wouldn’t hurt.”

Holly smiled and tucked her feet under herself. She settled into the corner of the couch for the movie, sipping her beer and enjoying Steve’s company.

When the movie was over, the beer was gone. Holly was still curled up in the corner of the couch. She watched the credits roll for a minute before looking over at Steve. She ran a hand through her hair. Steve smiled at her and stood up, “Thanks for humoring me.”

“It’s no problem,” Holly smiled back. “Do you want to break out The Maltese Falcon and a bottle of scotch or do you have a beautiful detective to get home to?”

“Traci is already asleep,” Steve smiled, “I can go thought. I’ve kept you up late enough.”

Holly stood as well and started gathering beer bottles, “How about I just start the movie, open a bottle of scotch, and you can stay if you want?”

Steve looked at the clock, knowing that it was really late, but he wasn’t going to be able to sleep well if he went home then. He stretched, “I’m going to hit the bathroom. Then I’m going to order some food. Whatever you like that delivers here.”

Holly smiled to herself as she got out the scotch and the takeout menus. She had gotten so much more than a girlfriend when she started dating Gail. She got a whole lot of friends who loved her and the brother that she never had growing up. Holly felt at ease with Steve and they teased each other. She felt like this was how girls with big brother’s in movies felt.

Steve stepped out of the bathroom and called, “Greek food. There’s a Greek place down the street that delivers.” He walked into the kitchen and stood next to Holly, “That good for you?”

“Absolutely,” Holly agreed and handed Steve the takeout menu to the Greek place. She handed it over, “I am going to go change. Do you want something to change into?” Holly gestured to Steve’s work clothes. “Gail stole some of your old sweatpants and a David Bowie concert shirt that Gail swears up and down is yours, the last time we were at your parents’ house.”

“Is that the time the two of you just showed up for a party, went upstairs, and then left?” Steve asked, a smile playing on his lips.

Holly nodded, “We also took your Nintendo 64 from your old bedroom and all the games we could find in two minutes.”

“Where is it?” Steve asked, “We could skip the movie and I could school you at MarioKart.”

Holly chuckled, “It’s in our bedroom. Gail likes to cheat and I found that it’s harder for her to push me off of the bed than it is the couch. I’ll grab it if you order the food.”

“Anything in particular?” Steve asked, picking up the menu and pulling out his phone.

Holly shrugged as she walked away, “Whatever you’re having.”

Steve changed while Holly set up the game console in the living room. They got three races in before the food arrived. They both attempted to play GoldenEye while eating, ending up with comical results.

By the time they were both gamed out, it was almost four in the morning. Holly insisted the Steve stay over and he sleepily agreed. Steve was asleep on the couch before Holly could return with a blanket for him. She smiled, covered him up, and padded to bed.


	10. Chapter 10

“I was actually starting to like this place,” Chris mentioned as he threw his new second hand clothes in his new second hand duffle bag.

Gail was taking her time, folding her clothes up. “It’s a dump.”

Chris looked over at her, “I know you live with Holly now, but once upon a time you lived with me and Dov in a place barely bigger than this one.”

Gail was ready to rip Chris’s head off at the mention of Holly and their apartment. She finally found someone who understood her and loved everything about her. Holly loved her completely. Not in spite of some of Gail’s flaws. Holly loved her and her flaws. Gail threw a t-shirt at her bag and growled, “I hate it.”

Chris looked down, knowing he accidentally beat on a sore subject, “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Gail shook her head, “I shouldn’t be freaking out. I chose to do this. I did this to me and to Holly and I have to live with it.”

Chris ran a hand through her hair, “Are you going to hit me if I say I miss Holly too?”

Gail rolled her eyes, but smiled, “Yes.” She punched his arm. Her smile dropped and she leaned over into Chris. Her voice dropped when she asked, “Do you think she’s mad at me?”

“I bet she’s proud of you,” Chris put his arm around her. “We’re doing good here. She knows that.”

Gail pushed off of Chris and went back to her clothes. She finished putting her clothes into the bag. She ducked into the bathroom to make sure that she didn’t forget anything.

“Hey,” Chris called, still putting his clothes up, “Why did you keep asking Apollo about his family?”

Gail walked back into the room. “I’m pretty sure he’s Holly’s brother. I wanted to make sure he didn’t know about her before we left so she wouldn’t have to deal with it alone.”

“Wha- are you serious?” Chris asked, his head whipping over to look at Gail, “How did you find out?”

Gail explained how she and Andy looked through his file by chance. Gail picked up her bag, “If Holly ever finds out, I want to be there.”

“What do you mean if?” Chris asked, grabbing his bag and following her out the door, “You’re not going to tell her.”

“No, I’m not going to tell her,” Gail shook her head and grabbed her keys, shoving them into her back pocket, “He’s a crime lord and he needs to stay away from Holly.”

Chris seemed to know that then was the time to drop it. He put it in the back of his mind and looked around the apartment they barely got to live in. Gail walked out the door and waited for Chris on the stairs. Chris looked around one last time, turned off the lights, and closed the door.

 

When they got back to Mark’s apartment, he was sitting on the stoop, chain smoking. There was a small pile of cigarette butts on the ground next to the stood so he’d been going at it for a while. When they pulled up to the curb, Mark put his bag over his shoulder and walked to the truck.

Before he opened the door, Gail quickly told Chris, “Tell him you talked me out of killing him. You need to be his friend.”

Chris nodded as the back door opened. Mark carefully sat down and closed the door. He put his bag in the floorboard.

Gail pressed on the gas and pulled away from the apartment. She conveyed to Chris that she needed food in some kind of grunt. Chris suggested a coffee place that was close. Gail told him that they were going to eat in the car because she wanted to get to Quebec City before the sun went down. She muttered how she hated driving up north after dark and added something about a fucking moose.

Gail told Chris to go get the food so she could make a phone call. She glared back at Mark until he got out of the car with Chris.

“Is she always like this?” Mark asked Chris carefully inside of the coffee shop.

Chris put his hands in his coat pockets, “Yes and you’re kind of already on her bad side so tread lightly.” Chris chuckled and clapped Mark on the back, “That truck is new. I’d hate to see her set another one on fire.”

Mark swallowed dryly and looked at the line in front of him. “What do I do to get off of her bad side?”

“Do everything she says,” Chris instructed in a friendly manner. “If you have anything to say that she might not like, tell me and I’ll see what I can do.”

Mark looked at Chris, “Why would you do that for me?”

The line moved in front of them and Chris stepped forward to the cashier, “I’m trying to get her to settle down. You know, run her…company from one place. QC seems like a good place to do that. If she got into a fight with you, we’d have to go somewhere else.”

Gail sat in the car and looked at her phone. She finally pressed the green button and put the phone to her ear. “Yeah?” Luke answered.

“We’re heading out,” Gail told him. She looked through the windows of the coffee shop, “Is Steve there?”

“No. I’m at 7 right now,” Luke answered, “Do you want me to tell him something?”

“Call McNally,” Gail pressed her elbow to the window and rested her head in her hand, “Tell her we’ll be gone longer than expected. She’ll know what to do.”

“I can do that,” Luke told her. “Do you need anything else?”

Gail saw the men walking out of the coffee shop with bags of food and cups of coffee. “Not right now. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up and tossed her phone into the cup holder. She cursed under her breath. This whole situation was way less than ideal.

=+=+=

“Andy?” Holly walked into the pit of 15 Division. Andy was sitting at a desk, staring at the surface of it like she was reading something off of the dark grains.

Andy’s head jerked up. She swiveled around in her chair to look at Holly. Andy rubbed her hands on her pant legs and stood up. She couldn’t even force a smile. She looked up at the detectives’ offices. Steve was already on his way down.

Holly followed Andy’s eyes. She knew if Andy and Steve were coming to talk to her, something was off, “What’s going on?”

“C’mon,” Andy led Holly to the parade room. With each step, Holly thought of something terrible that could have happened to Gail, each scenario escalating in direness. When they finally got there, Holly was sure she should be in the waiting room of the hospital and not the police station.

Steve walked in after them and closed the door.

“Seriously, what’s going on?” Holly asked, looking between the two. She didn’t move to sit down or lean on a table. She felt primitively restless.

Andy licked her lips, “Um, Gail and Chris are…they’re going to be a little longer than Callaghan first thought.”

Holly frowned and crossed her arms, “What happened?”

“Nothing bad,” Steve assured her, “They’re just in deep somewhere that the feds had been trying to get for a while. They already saved thirty-seven people from the human trafficking ring. But the ring is national. They’re going somewhere else to take down the entire organization.” Steve put his hands in his pockets.

“How long could she be gone?” Holly swallowed and looked at Steve with a set jaw, trying to take this news as best she could.

Steve shrugged, “It could be months.”

Holly was stunned for a moment. She ran her hand through her hair and nodded. She nodded again and looked at Steve, “Okay.”

Andy looked from Steve to Holly. She was at a loss as to how well Holly was taking it. Holly was her friend, but she expected some sort of reaction. Maybe a few tears or some kind of low key tirade where she demanded to know why Gail was the one that had to do it. Andy fidgeted with one of the clasps on her belt, “Do you need anything?”

Holly shook her head. She hugged Andy and then Steve, “Thank you for telling me.” Holly took a deep breath. She was trying desperately to keep it together and she didn’t want to lose it in a building full of her co-workers.

Andy rubbed Holly’s back, “How about I get some takeout and bring it over tonight?”

“I actually have plans with the Pecks,” Holly glanced at Steve who nodded. She looked back at her friend, “But tomorrow night?”

“Yeah,” Andy nodded. “Of course.”

“Okay,” Holly ran a hand through her hair and made her way to the door, “I have to, um, drop off a report for Traci.” Holly ducked out of the parade room and disappeared.

“She didn’t have anything with her,” Andy pointed out.

Steve nodded, knowing that Holly was lying. He was starting to worry about her. He was starting to worry that she was going to pull away from her friends and put some dense emotional walls up. He didn’t want Holly to isolate herself. From experience, he knew this wasn’t something that families and loved ones should have to deal with alone.

Andy pushed up from the table, “I have to go tell Dov.” She looked at Steve, “Call me if you think Holly needs anything. I mean anything.”

Steve nodded to her, keeping his place on the table.

After Andy walked out, Steve looked down at the floor and bit his lip. He was going to give Holly some time and then see how she was feeling at dinner.

When the time had arrived, Holly showed up for dinner with a smile and a bottle of wine.

Bill hugged her at the front door and accepted the wine, “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Thank you for inviting me,” Holly stepped into the house. As Bill closed the door, Holly walked into the living room. Traci and Steve were already there. They both smiled and stood when she walked in.

“Hey,” Traci walked around the couch to hug Holly. She whispered, “Thank you so much for coming.”

Holly chuckled, “No problem.” Holly withdrew from the hug and stepped into Steve’s arms.

He rubbed her back, “How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay,” Holly let out a small smile, “You?”

“I’m okay,” he echoed her words. He put his hand on her shoulder in a motion of solidarity.

She wasn’t sure how she was going to handle Gail’s parents without Gail to sort of shield her from her parents’ inquiries. But at dinner, no one pried too much. The conversation was shallow and all undercover anecdotes were forgone. Holly explained what her book was about and Elaine told everyone the latest news from the top of the food chain. Bill announced that he was going to start a garden in the backyard. There was nothing really of consequence spoken about over dinner.

After dinner, everyone got some wine and moved to the living room. Holly helped Elaine clean up the table, not quite ready to just sit and ponder in the living room, especially with a help of wine. After all the dishes were in the dishwashers, Holly snuck out the back door of the house while Elaine went upstairs to change her shirt that she splashed water all over. The Peck’s had a great deck that overlooked their pool. The glow from the pool was soft and comforting to Holly. It reminded her of her morgue and as odd as it was, she was most at home there while Gail was gone.

Holly looked up at the star dotted sky. She swore to herself a long time ago that she would never depend on anyone. Even when she was a child she knew that it could break her if she did. She learned to depend on herself and kept a distance from everyone else. Gail was her exception. She was the exception to every stupid rule Holly made for herself so that she wouldn’t get hurt.

Holly tried to hide in books. They always gave her a small escape from reality. She had bought more books than she had bookshelf space for since Gail left. Many of them had taken up residence on Gail’s side of the bed, but no amount of books or escapes from reality could fill the hollow feeling Holly had in the back of her stomach. No pile of books could replace Gail.

Holly wondered where Gail was. She wondered if Gail was safe and if she was eating well. These were all useless things to wonder in Holly’s situation. She couldn’t do anything about it. She couldn’t hide the cheese puffs from Gail or make sure she had a blanket at night. Holly shook her head at herself. It was stupid.

She closed her eyes against the bitter breeze that was trying to numb her skin. It felt nice to be outside and not have to hear anything, but wind. It was calming even though she would never feel relaxed until Gail got home.

 “Hey, have you seen Holly?” Traci asked Steve as she reentered the living room from a trip to the bathroom. She had been sitting on the couch, talking with Bill and Elaine who were across the living room.

Steve pointed to the back door, “She stepped outside.”

Traci frowned, sitting down next to Steve on the couch, “Is she okay?”

Steve didn’t say anything. He wasn’t really sure. He always felt like Holly was putting up a front and it was a damn good one because only a few people noticed the cracks. Steve felt like he was starting to get close enough to see the cracks.

“I’m going to go see,” Traci started to stand.

Bill stood up from the armchair first, “I’ve got it.”

Traci raised her eyebrows to Steve, who could only shrug back.

Holly heard the door open behind her and immediately wiped at her eyes with her sleeves. She had teared up, but she wasn’t sure if any tears had actually escaped. She turned around and forced a smile, “Hey.”

Bill silently stepped out onto the patio and stood next to Holly. Holly crossed her arms and looked back up at the sky. Bill’s eyes rose to the heavens as well. They stood in silence for a few minutes just listening to the wind rustle through the trees.

After a while, Bill put his arm around Holly’s shoulders. She couldn’t hold herself together after that. Such a fatherly gesture was more than Holly could have asked for. A few silent tears escaped her eyes. She’d never had a group of people around her that felt like she thought a family should feel like until then.

“Gail’s smart,” Bill assured Holly quietly.

Holly managed to compose herself and wiped her face again, “Does it get easier?”

Bill rubbed Holly’s back, “Not at all.”

A small part of Holly was glad that Gail wasn’t there. Gail would say something that would tear Holly apart at the seams, because Gail knew that Holly would keep everything in until she would breakdown. Gail pushed all the right buttons, quietly asking Holly to show her, her inner most workings. And Holly let her. Holly always knew what Gail was doing and let her because she trusted Gail. Perhaps, Gail was the first person that she fully trusted in her entire life.

Holly looked back up at the stars, wishing on every single one of them that Gail was okay


	11. Chapter 11

Holly’s phone rang, pulling her out of a deep sleep. She felt around on the bed with her eyes closed, her hand hitting a book, her laptop, another book, and a stack of papers before landing on her phone. She tapped the answer button with her thumb and put it to her ear as she rolled onto her back, “Hello?”

“Dr. Stewart,” the pleasant voice of her publishing manager wafted into her ear. He seemed really happy which seemed to be his default setting, “Is this too early? I got your manuscript at four this morning.”

“No, no it’s fine,” Holly rested on her back. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that it was light in her bedroom.  “What’s up?”

“I love this. It’s very impressive that you banged it out in five months.” he told her, “This manuscript is just what we’re looking for. I’m going to have an editor look this over and I’ll wire you over the rest of your advance.”

“Awesome,” Holly rolled onto her side and heard papers crumple under her. She saw the mess in the bed. There were papers everywhere. Books were open all around her. Her laptop was precariously teetering on the edge of the bed. She placed her hand on top of it and pulled it to her. “Can I- Can I call you back?”

He laughed, “Of course. Call me back next week. We’ll have a hard copy for you to look at.”

“Okay,” Holly took a deep breath, “Next week.” She hung up and dropped her phone. Holly grabbed the blanket on the bed and pulled it around herself, ready to go back to sleep.

The next time she woke up, it was early afternoon. Holly stretched on her bed and yawned. She stayed laying on the bed and stared at the ceiling, watching the slats of light on the ceiling until it seemed that they started to move. She could feel that she was still wearing jeans, but her boots were gone. Her shirt was crooked and her glasses were missing. She didn’t remember getting into bed. She didn’t really remember much after midnight. Holly surmised that being awake for almost three days straight would do that to a person.

She was, however, starving and she really needed to pee. Holly rolled out of bed and stripped on her way to the bathroom. She took a leisure shower, not really having any other plans for the rest of the day. Closing her eyes, she savored the warm waters cleansing her. She buried her face in the spray, just pushing the world out to stay in her dreamlike trance for just a little while longer.

When she got out, Holly fell on her side of the bed in a towel. Holly promised Andy that she would let her know how the book was going when she left work two days ago. She didn’t contact Andy the day before so she threw a text out to her friend. Despite the bittersweetness of finishing the book, Holly wanted to celebrate a little. It was another major milestone in her career. _Book’s finished. Want to go get a drink?_

Andy excitedly agreed as Holly was getting picking out some pants. Andy explained her that everyone wanted to buy her a congratulatory drink. Holly pulled a shirt on with a smile. Of course Andy told everyone.

There was a knock on the door as Holly was dragging a brush through her hair, not even ten minutes later. She tossed the brush onto her couch as she walked to the door in her bare feet. Holly didn’t check the peephole because she was sure she knew who it was.  Andy stood there with a bottle of champagne that was already open, “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Holly smiled and accepted a hug from Andy.

“Do you have champagne glasses?” Andy asked, walking into the kitchen. “I prematurely opened this not realizing that I haven’t done dishes in a while.”

Holly ran a hand through her hair to make sure it was brushed out and walked to the kitchen, gesturing vaguely to the cabinet, “We only have one coffee mug, but ten champagne glasses.”

Andy followed her and opened the cabinet where she knew the glasses were. “And an impressive collection of shot glasses,” Andy took out two glasses and closed the cabinet.

Holly smiled widely, “Most of those are Gail’s.”

“I believe it,” Andy poured champagne into the glasses and handed one to Holly. She looked directly as her friend as she smiled, “Gail would be more proud of you than I am. And I am pretty damn proud.”

Holly smiled fully, knowing that Andy was right. She and Gail would have celebrated more privately before going out for drinks though. She downed half of her drink before setting her glass down. “I’m going to go finish getting ready.” She changed her mind about her glass and turned around, picked it up, and took it with her.

Andy followed her with the champagne and sat on the bed as Holly finished up getting ready in the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Holly took out her phone. She opened up the text conversation between her and Gail. It had been really one-sided over the past few months with Gail being undercover and all. Andy assured Holly that Gail’s phone was locked in a desk somewhere and not on Gail so Holly had taken to texting Gail. She told her about dinner with Gail’s parents and funny accidents in her research lab. Holly texted Gail at least fifty times while she was at Gail’s cousin’s wedding with Steve. She even included pictures of Gail’s crazy mountain people family. A few lonely nights, Holly texted Gail that she missed her. She told Gail that she loved her and hoped she was safe. There had to be at least five hundred text messages from Holly. It became Holly’s weird way to cope with Gail not being there.

After Holly told Gail about her book being finished, she told Gail that she loved her and put her phone away to actually finish getting ready. Andy poked her head in and refilled Holly’s glass with champagne. They polished off the bottle together and walked to the Penny with content smiles.

Holly was drown in congratulations and hugs at the bar. Police officers, lab techs, detectives, and secretaries all showed up. Holly was awkwardly charming and had made many friends in the law enforcement sector. It seemed all of them had come to the Penny to celebrate with her.

Dov brought trivia cards, enjoying a very successful run of Three Cops and a Doctor over the past few months. Everyone in the bar had started buying their team round after round before the competition in hopes of inebriating the competition. Unfortunately, it just made Dov giggly and Chloe alarmingly quick with her answers.

“C’mon Dov,” Andy leaned back in her chair, “Not tonight.”

“Just a few,” Dov pleaded, “C’mon.”

Chloe took the cards from Dov and tossed them in her purse, “He brings those everywhere.”

Nick walked to the table and sat down with another round, “He keeps those things in his vest. He quizzed me all the way to a robbery.” He turned to Holly, “When are you speaking at that thing – the pathologist convention?”

“Next week,” Holly looked down at her drink. “It’s not really a speaking thing. I’m doing a panel and then there’s a dinner thing. It’s a small pathology convention.”

“Is it open to anyone?” Chloe asked, setting her drink down. When Holly nodded, Chloe asked, “Do you mind if I come? You know someday when I’m a detective it might be useful to have a pathology perspective.”

“Yeah, come if you want,” Holly shrugged. She didn’t feel like it was a big deal, “If you want to go to the dinner after, I’ll put your name on the list.”

The rest of the group agreed to go to the panel for the knowledge of it. Holly wasn’t entirely sure that was true, but she went with it and put a note in her phone to get them all on the list for the dinner.

“So what are you going to do with all the royalties from your book?” Chloe asked with a smile, “You’ve been working hard lately, maybe a vacation?”

“Tequila and aggressive mutual funds,” Holly hadn’t actually thought about it. Working on the book was more something to bide her time than a labor for profit.

Andy signaled for another round and told Holly, “Well tonight your tequila is on me.”

“Are we celebrating?” Sam asked as he Steve, Traci, and Oliver walked over to the table all eyeing the empty shot glasses in the middle of the table.

“Holly just finished her second book,” Chloe announced with a pleased smile.

“I thought that was supposed to take you a year,” Steve smiled down at Holly, thoroughly impressed.

Holly stood up and received a hug, “I had a lot of down time.”

Steve bought a round for the table, but joined the detectives at a separate table. Traci stopped off at the rookie table, sitting with her friends. Traci smiled at Holly, “What are you going to do with all your free time?”

“I have no idea,” Holly tried to make her words seem more confident and playful than they were. Her smile faltered, but only one person at the table noticed.

Andy put her hand on Holly’s shoulder. She told the table, “We are going to go rock climbing tomorrow. And maybe everyone can go camping sometime soon?”

“Yeah,” Chloe agreed. “As long as by camping you mean a hotel room in Niagara.”

Everyone laughed, but no one made firm plans. Holly wouldn’t commit to anything out of town and before Andy could pin her down, someone turned on the jukebox. The song stole everyone’s attention Holly was grateful.

Holly shooed everyone off for a darts game that she claimed to be too inebriated to participate in. She really just wanted a moment to regroup. Social functions, especially without Gail, required some alone time in the middle even if it was only a few seconds.

“You and Steve get along?” Nick moved to the stool next to Holly.

Holly put her hands around her drink and nodded, “Yeah. Pretty well.”

Nick smiled, “I’ve known him for years and I’m still pretty sure he doesn’t like me.”

“Well, I know police have a thin blue line, but the Peck family,” Holly paused. She inhaled, “The Peck family’s line is thinner and…bluer.”

Nick chuckled, “I couldn’t agree more.”

Holly ran a hand through her hair, “You and Gail were engaged?”

“Yeah,” Nick nodded slowly, “It was a long, sordid story.”

“Gail told me,” Holly tapped her fingers on the bar absently. The alcohol was really starting to get to her. She polished off the rest of the drink and signaled for another one. “She told me everything.”

“Yeah?” Nick asked, a little surprised. He wasn’t sure that Holly really knew _everything._ When it came to blemishes on Gail’s record, she tended to use a lot of concealer.

Holly shrugged, “You and her, then she slept with the older detective with a birthmark shaped like a pineapple.” Holly flippantly waved her hand, “Something about baked cheese puffs. I stopped listening because I had done ten autopsies that day and I fell asleep.”

Nick was completely blown away by Gail’s complete honesty. Not that she was a secretive liar, but she had massive walls and more, smaller, thicker walls that guarded things Gail wasn’t proud of. It seemed Holly had the key to all of it. He smiled, realizing what this meant for Gail. She found someone who unlocked all the doors and let her run free.

Nick saw Holly looking expectantly at him. He wasn’t holding up his end of the conversation so he smiled, “I’m glad you two have each other. I don’t know if she knows it, but she’s been looking for you her whole life.”

Holly was sure what Nick meant by that and she didn’t have a chance to ask. Andy ran over and grabbed Holly for teams billiards.

After her victory drinks, Holly went back to her apartment. When the door closed with a soft click, she stood close to the door, looking around. The apartment was messy. After weeks of neglect and take-out it was hard to distinguish the couch from the coffee table. There were blankets and clothes all over the place. She knew that bed was still covered in books and articles.

Holly shrugged off her jacket and placed it on the coat rack. She moved to the kitchen first to start the dishes.

Cleaning had always been a calming thing for Holly. It was a constant everywhere she had ever been. In every foster home she had been in, everyone had chores. In her lab, everything had to be cleaned before and after every single examination. It was something that was physical enough to get her blood flowing a little faster, but menial enough so that she could sink into deep thought. Of course this time, her cleaning fuels thoughts would circle around one person.

Holly had thought extensively about how Gail was going to come back into her life. Sometimes it was just the sound of the front door opening and Gail slipping back into bed with her, like she never left. Sometimes it was some grand entrance. At Gail's cousin's wedding, while she was sitting at the reception, she fantasized about Gail walking into the wedding in a beautiful dress. The whole room would look at them, two long lost lovers being reunited at a celebration of love. Holly knew that was out of character for both her and Gail, but fantasizing couldn't hurt.

Holly had the dishwasher going and went into the living room to tidy up the blankets and clothes. As she sorted the clothes, finding an entirely clean pile of clothes she forgot to put away, Holly thought about all the offers she was about to start getting to speak out of town. She wasn’t really big on speaking anyway, but she didn’t mind doing panels. She just didn’t want to be a center of attention. She wasn’t big on the receptions afterward either and usually found herself on a terrace or across the street from the reception, sitting on a bench and reading.

Holly wasn’t the most social person, although the last few months with most of 15 Division could have fooled anyone. She liked quiet and she liked to have time to reflect. No matter how many friends she had or was around, she usually felt like an outsider. And for the most part she was okay with that. She was fine standing outside of the dome, observing the people inside. But when she met Gail, she found someone to stand with outside the dome and look in. They weren’t invasive in each other’s lives. They were complimentary to each other’s quirks.

As Holly finished putting away the clean clothes, she looked at the bed. It seemed really odd, but the books on Gail’s side of the bed made Holly feel less alone. No amount of books could shift together to form a Gail, but they could take up some of the space until Gail returned. Holly picked up the loose paper articles and moved them to the office, leaving the books where they were. 

Holly was adamant about being in town when Gail got back. That meant that all out of town engagements had to be put off indefinitely. She decided that she needed to call her literary agent and let him know. He was understanding, although Holly didn’t actually tell him why.

After the call, Holly finished cleaning the apartment. When the apartment was clean there was nothing else for her to do. Holly laid on the couch and looked at the ceiling. It felt like it was the first time since Gail left, she had stopped moving. And suddenly the quiet of the apartment and the absence of warmth on the couch next to her crashed down on top of her.

Holly closed her eyes and let it come. She knew she had been running and she couldn’t run anymore. She missed Gail and she couldn’t ignore the feelings eating at her psyche anymore. She had to deal and right then, dealing meant letting everything wash over her. All the loneliness and the worry dropped on top of her like a ton of bricks.

=+=+=+=+

Gail stood on the corner of the street with Chris, waiting for a meet up. “It’s freezing balls out here.”

Chris looked over her shoulder down an alley, “How do you know?” He exhaled a long stream of crystalized breath.

Gail ignored him. She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was really wrong. She’d been undercover for almost six months and she never had this feeling before. Gail swallowed and looked down the empty street, “Do you have your gun on you?”

“Yeah,” Chris patted it in his jacket holster. He had the same feeling. Something wasn’t right, “We have cover behind the dumpster.”

Gail nodded. Her stomach felt tight. “You think Mark is trying to snake us?”

“He’s getting brave lately,” Chris answered with a deep breath. Headlights rounded the corner down the street and they both put their hands on their weapons, ready to draw them.

Gail watched the car approached and muttered, “It’s because you didn’t let me punch him.”

The car slowed to a stop and the passenger’s side window rolled down. Inside was Sergeant Quinn, she looked behind her, “Get in. You’ve been compromised.”

Gail and Chris didn’t hesitate to jump into the car.  Those were words that every undercover officer is always listening for - the words that tell them that their lives are on the line. Gail slid into the backseat and Chris into the front as another vehicle screeched around the corner. Quinn slammed down the gas and picked up a radio, “Dispatch this is Sergeant Quinn with RCMP, C Division. Requesting assistance on 35th and Palmer.” The back window of the car shattered and she yelled into the radio, “We’re taking fire!”

The dispatch answer was lost because more shots started to riddle the car. Gail was laying in the backseat, trying to avoid getting hit. She popped up for a moment and fired back, breaking the front windshield of the pursing truck.

“Turn left!” Chris yelled to Quinn as he peered around his seat, behind them. It was definitely Mark.

Quinn jerked the wheel to the side and swerved down a small street. The sound of sirens echoed through the empty street behind them. Quinn saw Mark and two other passengers in a blue truck turn down the same road in the opposite direction. She pulled a sharp u-turn and followed.

“What are you doing?” Chris asked her, “They’re trying to kill us.”

“We can’t let them get away,” Quinn told him. She pulled a gun from between the seats. “If we do, all this time and money has been wasted.”

Gail pulled out her gun and readied it. She wasn’t going to let everything go to waste. They had taken down most of the operation, but besides them, Mark was the top. If they took him out, they took down the whole human trafficking ring as well as some side drug running.

They followed the truck around a corner and then another one before it disappeared. They continued on the road until Chris spotted the truck in an alley where it had been abandoned. The u-shape of the building meant that there was nowhere for Mark to run except inside. Four police cruisers pulled up behind Quinn’s car and stopped. Quinn got out, showed her badge and told them to create a perimeter, no one in or out of the building.

Gail and Chris walked to the truck and found it completely empty. There was some blood in the seat so at least one of them got hurt when Gail fired back.

“What do you think?” Chris looked up and down the alley.

Gail didn’t get a chance to answer because Quinn had her gun drawn and moved toward the back of the alley. They both followed behind her in standard sweeping formation. The first door they passed was padlocked closed, but the next one was swinging open, obviously broken open.

Quinn went in first, immediately met with a set of stairs. The blood streaks on the wall were the confirmation that this is the direction Mark and his cronies went down. Quinn quietly talked into her radio, “Perps are in the north wing of the building. Block off all entrances.” She hooked the radio to her belt without having to look and led the way up the stairs.

The officers slowly made their way up the stairs and down the narrow hallway. The building was old and creaked with their every step, announcing their presence to the men they were hunting. Quinn paused at a junction. Gail spotted a bloody handprint on a wall and nudged Quinn in that direction.

Quinn nodded, peeked around the corner and started making her way toward the handprint. But another creak made Gail’s head whip around in the opposite direction. A gun raised and she dove at Quinn, knocking her down the hallway before the bullets started flying. Gail and Quinn scrambled to the edge of the wall while Chris pressed against the other side of the hallway.

Chris looked over at Gail. She stood up and put her head back against the wall as Chris tried to negotiate, “It’s over Mark. You’re not getting out of here.”

Mark struggled to push himself up behind a radiator for some kind of cover, “I knew you were cops!”

“Bullshit,” Gail called back. “You almost pissed yourself every time I walked into the room.”

“To be fair, I do that too,” Chris answered, looking across the hallway to Gail, offering a smile.

Gail smiled back at him. After almost six months of being a team in a high stress, high stakes situation, this one didn’t seem so dire.

A voice came over the radio telling Quinn that they had two men out front, coming out of the building.

Mark fired in their general directions, clipping the corner of the hallway nearest Chris. “Where’s Apollo?” Mark yelled back.

Chris looked over at Gail. Gail shook her shortened hair out of her eyes, “That’s above our pay grade.” She sighed, “C’mon, Mark, throw us your gun and we’ll get you to a hospital.”

“Fuck you,” Mark shot again.

Gail looked at Chris. She counted in her head and then called, “Mark you only carry a handgun. At most you have three shots left. Throw us your gun and we can help you.”

Mark was quiet. Gail took out her phone and turned on the camera. She poked the top of her phone around the corner and saw Mark pointing the gun in her direction. She yanked the phone back as Mark fired two more times before his slide locked back, signaling no more bullets.

Gail rolled her eyes and stepped out around the corner with Chris. Quinn quickly followed, radioing officers and EMTs in.

“Marky, Marky, Mark,” Gail walked over toward Mark with her gun hanging at her side. Mark was struggling to stand, blood soaking his shirt from a wound in his shoulder. “You could have made this easy.”

He chucked his gun at Gail who deflected it with her forearm. It cut through her coat and drew blood on her arm, but she rolled her eyes. Mark ran at Gail throwing a punch with his good arm. She dodged it and Mark tripped over Gail’s foot, falling toward Quinn. Quinn pushed him away and Mark fell with a dog-like whimper at Chris’s feet.

“I should have let you punch him,” Chris told Gail with a smile.

Officers rushed in to detain Mark and took him downstairs to an ambulance. Gail ran a hand through her short hair leaving a messy blonde wave and looked over at Chris. Her eyes bounced to Quinn, “What now?”

Quinn was on the phone but paused to answer, “We’ll take you to the C Division headquarters for to debrief. Then I’m sure your own department will want to debrief you. If we start now, we’ll finish by tomorrow morning and get you on a flight back to Toronto.” She looked at them both, “Cool?”

“Great,” Chris answered for both of them. Gail was a little shell shocked. She was starting to think it was never going to happen, but it was. She was finally going home. Tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

Holly looked up from the examination table when she heard a knock on the frame of her door. Chloe held up an evidence bag when she saw Holly look up, “I come bearing gifts.”

Holly smiled and walked around the table. Holly stripped off her latex gloves as she walked and tossed them into the trash. She accepted the bag and looked at the bullet inside of it through the clear plastic. She read the label, “Oh nice. For the Polaski case. Where did this get dug out of?”

“Dumpster,” Chloe put her hands on her belt, “Andy went home to take a shower after she dug it out. It was a dumpster for an exotic pet store so…really gross.”

Holly laughed, “Okay. I’ll get this run this right now if you want to hang around. I know Sam likes to make you guys hang around and wait.”

“Oh it’s no problem,” Chloe happily shook her head, “I like it here. There’s always something to learn.”

Holly walked over to her evidence cabinet and picked out a paper bag. “I pulled these out an hour ago. Maybe Courtney can teach you about ballistics comparison. We just got a new comparison macroscope. It’s intense.” She walked Chloe to the ballistics lab and set her up with the ballistics tech. Chloe happily introduced herself and sat down next to him. The tech was glad to tell Chloe all about the machine and how they compare and catalogue ballistics with their new system.

Once they were set, Holly went back to her lab and returned to the remains on her table. Holly finished her examination of the muddy remains’ ribcage just as Chloe came back with all the evidence. Holly stripped off her gloves again and too the evidence back from Holly, “We have a match and a warrant.”

“Awesome,” Holly nodded, happier about it because Chloe seemed ecstatic. She took the evidence back to the cabinet, tucked it in, and locked it.

“Swarek told me that I have to start bringing you coffee when I come over here,” Chloe rocked on her heels and onto her toes in the doorway, “I forgot this time so can I take you to lunch?”

“Um,” Holly looked over the exam table and shrugged, “Sure. Let me close this up.”

Chloe waited in Holly’s desk chair while Holly closed the body bag and detached the cart from the sink, “Are you playing paintball today after shift?”

“My camo is in my locker,” Chloe beamed, sitting up straighter, “Are you coming?”

Holly smiled crookedly and pushed the cart back to the fridge, “Andy and Dov talked me into it.”

“It’ll be fun,” Chloe enthusiastically assured her.

Holly walked back into the room and shrugged off her lab coat, “I don’t know about that. The last time I shot a real gun that wasn’t aimed in a ballistics tank was…at least ten years ago.”

“I’ll teach you a few things at lunch.” Chloe picked up Holly’s back from behind the desk and popped out of the chair.

Of course a few things at lunch didn’t stop Holly from hiding out behind a bunker at the paintball field after most of her team had dispersed. She was dressed in some black tactical pants that Andy had lying around and a dark green Henley. After changing at 15 Division with Andy and Chloe, Holly asked them the question that she was about to ask Nick. “Why couldn’t we have just gone drinking?” She lulled her head over toward Nick who was peeking over the top of the bunker next to her. She looked up at the sky and knew it was about to start to rain. It was overcast and ominous. It was the kind of day Holly usually spent in her apartment with the windows open, reading a book.

“Now you’re starting to sound like Gail,” Nick smiled behind his mask. “Just stick with me. Watch my six.”

“You guys take this game way too seriously,” Holly stood up and pulled her mask over her face. She looked behind them and followed Nick away from the bunker.

Nick moved them closer to the center of the paintball field, crouched as low as he could get with Holly shuffling along behind him. He spotted someone moving across the other side and pegged them. Oliver groaned on the other side of the field and called that he’d been hit.

Celery ran up to Holly and Nick from behind a tree. She stopped in front of them and knelt down. Celery lifted up her mask and looked at them both. “What are we supposed to be doing again?”

“Celery, you’re on the other team,” Holly pointed to the blue band on her arm. “You’re supposed to shoot us.”

Celery looked at the red band on her arm. “Oh. Whoops.” She stood up and ran to the other side of the playing field right past the stuffed walrus they were supposed to be trying to get down and almost all the way back toward her starting point.

“Andy is farther back, behind that car,” Holly stated, turning around and leaning on the wall they were hiding behind.

“How can you tell?” Nick asked, looking to where Holly pointed.

Holly grinned and turned back around. She used her gun to gesture and then shoot under the car, “Those are her shoes.” The shoes quickly moved to a more secure place, having barely escaped being hit by Holly’s paintballs.

“I object to the fact that getting hit with a paintball in the leg makes you go to the dead box,” Holly told Nick who was planning their next move. Her phone beeped in her pocket and she took it out while she checked her phone, “I’ve seen a guy with a nearly severed leg that didn’t go down until he broke his neck falling out of a tree.”

Nick chuckled, “You think we should limp around.”

“I’m just saying if you want to make it realistic,” Holly smirked and looked over the top of the bunker, slipping her phone back into her pocket. “Can we hide out in things because if we get into the back of that truck we can just camp and protect the elephant thing.”

“It’s a walrus,” Nick explained as he checked the hopper of his gun. “It used to be a giraffe camel thing.”

“I know,” Holly shot toward the back of where she thought Andy was, trying to get her to move. “Gail stole it and now it lives in my closet.”

Nick looked over at Holly, briefly taking his eyes off of where he thought Dov was. “Has she tried to hang up her Led Zeppelin poster yet?”

“It’s framed and in the bathroom,” Holly shot again toward Andy. She called out, “Give up now McNally! We’ve got you pinned.”

“We do?” Nick asked.

“Yeah,” Holly pointed to her left, “Chloe is coming up behind her. We worked out this strategy over lunch.”

Nick spotted Chloe slowly and sneakily moving through the bunkers. Chloe took a shot toward Andy who sprinted back toward her base to regroup with that was left of her team. It seemed the crack Chloe’s shot made the sky open up.

Holly wiped off her mask that was starting to drip diluted paint in her face. She watched Nick looking around before concluding, “Let me guess, you want us to go dive into that mud pit over there.”

Nick grinned, “Yes, ma’am.”

Holly gave a loose gesture of resignation and Nick took off running. Holly followed him, sliding into what used to be a small indentation in the ground made of dirt which turned into a mud pit within seconds of rain.

The rest of the match became a slapstick comedy of mud falls and shots in the face mask. Somehow Holly got caught in facemask that sprayed the top of her hair. A few more rounds, found Celery drinking tea in the field house with Dov who sprained his ankle slipping into a small mountain of tires.

Holly, Chloe, Traci, and Andy rode back to 15 Division together to change back into their street clothes. They were all covered in mud and paint. Holly’s hair was streaked green through it’s ponytail. There was mud on half her face and she was laughing with Chloe and Andy as they walked down the hallway.

“I would like to reopen the discussion of beer and nachos,” Andy told the other three women.

Holly grabbed the door and held it open for the other ladies. Her back was to the wall as Traci and Chloe walked in first, politely thanking her. Holly was about to tell Andy that she was buying when her eyes drifted out of the hallway Every muscle in Holly’s body clenched at once and suddenly she couldn’t swallow.

Andy noticed and saw Holly’s eyes were locked on a certain point through the glass to the detective offices so she tried to follow her gaze, not noticing that Holly had already disappeared from her side.

Holly’s hands were shaking as she walked quickly and quietly up the stairs to the detective’s offices and opened the door without preamble.

Everyone in the office turned around and looked at her when she did. She swallowed, her eyes gracing the floor before she spit out, “I don’t mean to interrupt but, um -“

Gail was out of her chair like shot. Her chair swung vacantly behind her as she moved to Holly like a magnet. Gail took in Holly’s appearance and smiled. She couldn’t manage words, but the tears in her eyes conveyed volumes to Holly. Gail slowly reached forward and took Holly’s hand. At the first touch, Gail couldn’t resist using that hand to pull Holly’s body into hers. She could feel Holly wrapping herself around her. She closed her eyes and inhaled, feeling Holly’s body against her chest, under her arms. Everything about that moment felt surreal. She had Holly in her arms. She was holding Holly.

Steve ushered everyone out of the room and Luke let Chris go greet Andy, Chloe, and Traci who had spotted Holly run off and followed. They were standing respectfully outside of the office waiting and all smiled when Chris stepped out.

“I missed you,” Holly whispered into Gail’s ear. She pulled away and smiled. “Your cut your hair.”

“Do you like it?” Gail asked, mapping Holly’s face like it was the first time she ever laid eyes on her. It felt like the first time and like the millionth time, but she missed every single part of Holly. She missed the delicate creases that were only visible in certain lights, but told Gail that Holly laughed more than she frowned. She loved Holly’s nose and her eyebrows and her hairline and the way she smiles like when Gail is standing in front of her, nothing is wrong with the world. Gail loved everything about Holly and that made her miss Holly that much more.

Holly ran her fingers through Gail’s hair with tears running down her cheeks. Gail could have shaved her head or dyed it Maple Leafs colors and she would have said the exact same thing, “I love it.”

Gail didn’t waste any more time, delaying what she’d been aching for, for months. She moved in for a kiss. At first it was tentative, her lips getting reacquainted with Holly’s before she dove completely in. Holly never wanted to let go or stop kissing Gail. She never wanted to be away from Gail again.

Gail smiled, breaking the kiss when her hand that was pushing into Holly’s hair came out green. She looked at her hand and wiped it off on her jeans, “I take it you were playing paintball.”

Holly just looked at Gail for a moment before registering the question. She nodded with an elated grin. “Yeah.”

Gail cupped Holly’s neck and slowly moved her hand forward, softly stroking Holly’s mud streaked cheek. “I love you so much.”

Holly leaned into Gail’s hand pressing it harder against her skin, “I love you too.” Holly sniffled and wiped her eyes. She glanced behind them and saw through the windows that their friends were giddily watching and trying to look disinterested when she looked at them. Holly bit her lip, “Can you…come home or something?”

Gail nodded, “Yeah.” She kissed Holly again, this time brief, but sweet, “Let’s go home.” She took Holly’s hand, securing their palms together and pulled her down the stairs. Holly and Gail sort of waved to their friends, but had more pressing matters on their minds. They walked right out the front door of 15 Division, not giving a second’s pause to the rain, pounding the city. They ran all the way home, laughing and holding hands.

Gail pulled the apartment keys out of her pocket and Holly wrapped herself around Gail’s back, resting her chin on Gail’s shoulder. Gail finally got the door unlocked and took the step inside. Holly walked in behind her and paused to lock the door. She didn’t get the chance to turn around completely when, Gail nailed Holly to the back of the door with a powerful kiss that made Holly’s knees weak. She smiled ethereally, with her fingers burying themselves in Gail’s hair as Gail’s lips moved hungrily down her neck. Gail was home.

=+=+

Holly was sitting against the headboard as Gail went through her text messages. Gail’s head was in her lap as she continually ran her fingers through the short blonde locks. After reacquainting themselves with each other’s bodies, they took a shower together that mostly consisted of making out and less than innocently washing each other.

Gail looked up at Holly, “You and Dov both dated the same woman?”

Holly laughed, “Not at the same time. I only went on a few dates with her because I was in med school and doing my rotations. I didn’t have much time.”

“Who is it?” Gail looked back at her phone, “The pool of Dov’s exes is pretty shallow.”

“Sue, the bomb tech,” Holly flatted out Gail’s bangs before ruffling them up. “We while I was doing my trauma rotation.”

Gail couldn’t help, but be a little jealous. Not that there was anything she could do about it now, but sarcastically quip, “She must not be a very good bomb tech.”

Holly smiled and resisted telling her Sue came in with a friend who was in a car accident. She just dipped down and kissed Gail’s forehead, letting Gail finish going through all the texts that she had sent while Gail was gone.

“You finished your book?” Gail pushed up on her elbow and rolled onto her side to look at Holly.

Holly tilted her head down and pouted her lips in thought. She shrugged, “I had a lot of free time.”

Gail licked her lips and moved up the bed to put her arms around Holly, “I missed a lot huh?”

“A lot of me sitting in the office and reading,” Holly grinned. “Autopsies on cadavers in the university morgue, more autopsies at work. More reading.”

Gail looked at Holly’s hair and adjusted Holly’s braid so that it sat across her shoulder, “I missed watching you read. You get these…intensity wrinkles on your face. It’s one of my favorite things.”

“Really?” Holly asked, resting her head on Gail’s shoulder.

“I had a lot of time to think about all the things…that you do that…I missed,” Gail rested her cheek on the side of Holly’s head. “You know?”

Holly nodded slightly, “I know.” She knew because she had a laundry list of things that she missed about Gail.

“You know the first thing I thought of was that karate ninja chop you do at the water in the shower when you turn it on too hot to see if it cooled off,” Gail stroked Holly’s hair. She smiled lovingly at her, “Like you do every single time you get in the shower.”

Holly blushed. She looked up at Gail and cleared her throat, “I didn’t know you saw that.”

“Oh please,” Gail grinned, “Every chance I get to watch you get in the shower, I take it.”

Holly pushed against the bed and kissed Gail. “You are a charming pervert.”

“You know I have like two weeks off,” Gail moved down the bed to lie down. Holly lay down next to her and took Gail’s hand.

She pressed her palm to Gail’s and threaded their fingers together. “Do you want to do something? Because I recently came into a lot of money. Well not a lot. A lot in terms of academic books, but not fictional books.”

“I think we should use some of that money to order in for the next few days,” Gail smiled and kissed Holly, her hand slipping up under Holly’s tank top.


	13. Chapter 13

“We should get a hot tub,” Gail looked up at the ceiling. “We had a hot tub in Quebec. It was great on cold nights like this.”

Holly hummed, “Well, that would require a house.” She closed her book and set it down on the nightstand. “Do you want a house?”

Gail looked up at Holly with her hands behind her head, “You don’t like houses.”

Holly inhaled thoughtfully and slipped off her glasses, before folding them. She held them in her hand for a moment and put them on the nightstand, “That’s not what I asked.”

“I don’t know,” Gail shrugged, “I never really thought about it extensively.” She opened her arms to Holly. Holly got what Gail wanted. She turned off the lamp and laid down on the bed, scooting into Gail’s arms. “You don’t like houses though.”

“I never said that,” Holly readjusted her head on Gail’s chest. “I just find apartments more efficient. Do you want a house, babe? White picket fence? Golden retriever?”

Gail rubbed Holly’s back, “What do you want, Holly? I had all those things growing up…except the golden retriever. But I had Steve. It was basically the same thing. What did you dream of growing up? What did you always want?”

“A family,” Holly put her arm around Gail’s waist. “Which I have now. Where I live doesn’t matter. We can move wherever you want: condos, apartment, flats, lofts, houses, townhouses, farms, mansions. We could move in next door to your parents if you want.”

“That’s blasphemous,” Gail stroked Holly’s hair. “My dad would be over every day. He would want to knock down the fence between our yards and expand his garden. My mom would be over every day criticizing our curtains.”

“Lakehouse? Cabin?” Holly asked sleepily. “We can get an RV and live in the parking lot of the morgue.”

“Just when I think you can’t be any weirder,” Gail kissed Holly’s forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Holly gently squeezed Gail, “And you’ve brought more family into my life than I could have ever asked for.”

Gail closed her eyes. There was one thing that she thought extensively about while she was undercover. She knew that it wasn’t her place to keep things from Holly. Holly was an adult and could make her own decisions. She took a deep breath, “What would you do if you found out that you have a brother?”

“I know I have a brother,” Holly propped her head up with her forearm. She looked curiously down at Gail.

Gail scrunched her mouth to one side and took a deep breath, “I think that maybe…I might know who he is.”

Holly took a moment to absorb Gail’s words. “What makes you think you found him?”

“I read his known aliases and his rap sheet,” Gail told Holly softly. She touched Holly’s face, “There’s a chance he’s not your brother though. It’s just a hunch.”

Holly ran her finger over Gail’s collarbone, slowly dancing them across Gail’s skin, “His name wouldn’t happen to be Nathan Parker would it?”

“You knew?” Gail frowned, trying to meet Holly’s eyes.

Holly didn’t look up though. She wasn’t exactly proud of what she did. “I have my own DNA and access to the national database,” Holly smiled wistfully at the wall, “I also had four days on little sleep and no one who was waiting for me to come home.” Holly took a deep breath, “I know what he looks like. I know his record. But some DNA doesn’t make a brother.” Holly smiled, “You know what makes a brother?” Holly moved to that she was hovering over Gail, their legs tangling together. Holly’s fingers graced Gail’s neck while her thumb traced Gail’s jaw. She thoughtfully looked over Gail’s face before answering her own question, “A brother is someone who drags you to the Penny after work because he knows you need someone to talk to. Someone who comes over with burgers and a video game just because. Someone who reminisces at a bar with you for hours. Someone who would hand me cases I didn’t have to take so that I could keep working and avoid coming home to an empty bed.”

“Who are you talking about?” Gail asked with a pleased grin. She was glad that Holly had a support system while she was gone.

“Oliver, Dov, Nick, and Steve,” Holly smiled, remembering how all of them were always hovering somewhere like big brothers do, “Respectively.”

“You and Nick got along?” Gail slipped her hand under Holly’s shirt to rub her bare back.

Holly nodded, “He would always hang around after everyone left to make sure I got home okay.” Holly’s eyes began to water and she shook her head trying to choke the tears back. She shrugged as best she could in her current position. “I have a family now. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

Gail’s own eyes filled with tears because Holly looked absolutely happy. There was nothing holding back the light in Holly’s eyes and it was the most beautiful thing Gail had ever seen. Gail pushed against the bed to kiss Holly. It seemed like the breath before the kiss when a shrill ring sounded through the room.

Holly smiled and dropped her head on Gail’s shoulder. Gail groaned and picked up her phone, reading it over Holly’s shoulder. “My mom ruins everything.”

“You should go see her,” Holly rolled off of Gail. “You only saw Steve for a few minutes before we ran off together.” Holly pulled a pillow down to tuck under her head.

Gail looked at the ringing phone in her hand and then back at Holly, “If we meet them tonight, then they won’t have time to plan a welcome home party so we can have dinner and come home.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Holly smiled.

Gail answered her phone. Of course it wasn’t two minutes into the conversation when Gail’s mother steamrolled her into having a dinner on the roof of their building with all their friends and Gail’s family.

Holly was okay with it. She knew that Gail had other people that wanted to see her and she understood. There was no replacing Gail. Holly texted everyone she was friends with from 15 Division and told them. Andy replied that she would go to the liquor store and meet them on the roof. Everyone else asked what they could bring. Holly let everyone know to bring what they wanted.

Holly got up off of the bed to look through the closet for something acceptable to wear in front of Gail’s parents. Hopefully something that said they hadn’t been having sex all day.

“Holly?” Gail called softly from the bed.

Holly poked her head out of the closet and saw Gail’s face light up when their eyes met. Gail just smiled and kept looking at her. Holly leaned forward on the doorframe, “What?”

“Just wanted to make sure you were still here,” Gail shook her head and rose from the bed. She picked up Holly’s phone off of the nightstand and walked over to Holly. When Holly didn’t move, Gail took Holly’s hand and put the phone in it, “Call McNally. Tell her we’re going to be late.”

“We are?” Holly grinned slyly.

Gail put her hands on Holly’s hips and pulled her close. “Definitely.” She kissed Holly and walked her backwards until her back hit the wall, “Very late.”

Their appearance into the party was a small ripple. Chris already had a group of officer enthralled with a story of the harrowing end to their undercover stint. Gail was okay with not talking about it again. She didn’t have to tell the stories again and again. She was happy to just slip back into her life and appreciate it more than she ever had.

Nick was the first one to spot them. He didn’t make a big deal about it. He just grabbed two beers and walked over to them. “You’re late.”

“We were busy,” Gail grinned and took the beer. She looked it over, not recognizing the label, “What’s this?”

“It’s Holly’s favorite,” Nick handed the other one to Holly.

Holly smiled, “Thanks.” She twisted off the top and offered her bottle up for a toast to Gail.

Gail clinked the neck of her bottle with Holly’s. They both took a drink and then Nick smiled at Gail, “It’s good to have you back.”

“Thanks,” Gail smiled to him. She put her arm around Holly’s waist. She actually did miss having Nick around to make fun of.

Andy spotted Gail and Holly. Everyone followed Andy’s eyes and found Gail. Gail was swept up into a sea of officers welcoming her home and telling her that they missed her. Holly stepped out of the way, knowing that this party was about Gail. She was just happy that she could sit off to the side and see Gail talking to her friends.

Steve slid up next to Holly while she was sitting at a picnic table, watching Gail talk to Dov, Chloe, and Andy. Holly smiled at him and leaned into the hug he offered her.

They could hear what the other officers were talking about and just sat there for a moment listening.

“As long as your uniform still fits,” Chloe commented with a smile.

Gail shrugged and took a sip of her beer, “It might not. I spent all my undercover free time working out.”

“That’s a lie,” Chris pulled a face and shook his head. “You spend all your free time eating cheese puffs and watching action movies. Did you know there are twenty-three James Bond movies?”

“I didn’t make you watch the George Lazenby one,” Gail carefully punched Chris’s stomach.

“Sorry, twenty-two.” Chris added, “And all the Die Hard movies.”

Gail rolled her eyes, “Did you want me to sit around and knit?” She looked over toward Holly, just making sure that she was there. Their eyes met and they shared a smile before Gail was pulled back into the conversation.

“How is she?” Steve asked, keeping his arm around Holly.

“She’s good I think,” Holly looked back at Gail, “She’s definitely happy to be home.”

Steve looked at the woman next to him, “How are you?”

Holly smiled and took a cleansing breath, “I’m great.” She rolled her shoulders. “I feel like I don’t have to worry anymore. She’s home.”

“Same here,” Steve squeezed Holly’s shoulder. “She’s a handful, but when she’s gone everyone can feel it.”

“That was disgustingly sentimental,” Gail walked toward them, getting into earshot during Steve’s last sentence.

Steve stood up and pulled his sister into his arms, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Gail leaned into her brother’s chest. She hugged him back for a moment before pushing him away. “Now get away. I need my lady.”

Holly stood up and let Gail engulf her, “Your lady huh?”

“Yup,” Gail kissed Holly’s cheek. She rocked Holly side to side and then looked around the roof. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Really?” Holly asked.

“Yeah,” Gail shrugged, “I said hi to everyone. I talked my parents through the whole thing. I hid a bag of cheese puffs behind the vent over there. I say we grab the cheese puffs and go back to bed.”

“Lead the way,” Holly took Gail’s hand and allowed Gail to drag her back into the building.

They made out in the stairwell for a solid five minutes on the floor above theirs. Then they slipped into their apartment. The cheese puffs were dropped off in the kitchen on the way to the bedroom. Gail practically tackled Holly onto the bed and slid her hands up Holly’s shoulder blades, hooking her fingers over Holly’s shoulders.

Gail leaned down and tenderly kiss Holly. She pulled back and looked over her face, “I missed you so much.”

Holly’s hands lightly rested on Gail’s cheeks, “I missed you too. I’m so glad you’re back.”

“I will always come back to you,” Gail dipped her head down and kissed Holly. She knew the words she spoke were trued. No matter what happened or where her job took her, Holly was what always brought her back. Holly was her home.


End file.
